


Done Us Part and Together

by toomanyguiltypleasures



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Character Death, Cheating, Choking, Dipper is 17 going on 18, Evil Grunkle Stan, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Incest, Insecurity, Literally out of all of them, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Stancest - Freeform, Still put the warning there but it's not like he's 12, Substance Abuse, Trans Dimensional Travel, Underage - Freeform, Underage is the softest thing you'll have to deal with, and it's not very underage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-04 22:08:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 17
Words: 40,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11000013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toomanyguiltypleasures/pseuds/toomanyguiltypleasures
Summary: Blue light surrounded the two figures as they stepped through the portals, each having a bag over their shoulders, one holding a gun. On one side of the portal is a parking lot, poorly lit and abandoned. On the other, they step into grass. Both figures look towards a clearing in the woods holding a gaudily decorated shack in the middle of it. They look at each other before the shorter one nods."Our vacation begins."





	1. Prints in the Grass

**Author's Note:**

> As a warning for what is going to happen in this fanfiction in the later chapters, I'm posting all of the tags and pairings here even if/though they have yet to happen. This is going to be a heavy fanfiction with a lot of tension involving two different dimensions of the Pines family. One dimension is labeled M-352 while the other Pines family is from dimension 39-F. Both of them are of my tweaking and altering, though 39-F is the closest there is to canon while M-352 is something I made and have toyed with a lot. To make identifying between them easy, in later chapters, know that Ley is M-352 Stan Pines, Stanford is M-352 Ford Pines, Ford is 39-F Ford, and Stan is 39-F Stan. There are no doubles of Dipper or Mabel so they're as is.  
> Also! Stanford is wearing this guard uniform for this and the next chapter: http://www.algyteam.com/struck-male-jumpsuit  
> Just imagine it blue instead of black and grey. And here's what the saber and the rifle look like: http://www.algyteam.com/excalibur-sabre-36-inch , http://www.algyteam.com/elite-pro-rifle-36-leather-strap

"Hurry up! The portal's gonna close in a minute!"

"You couldn't give me ten minutes to get changed?"

"You look good like that. Now stop dragging your ass."

"Do you have everything?"

"Everything we need."

"Are you su-"

"Yes! Stop worrying. Now let's go!"

"Alright..."

Blue light surrounded the two figures as they stepped through the portals, each having a bag over their shoulders, one holding a gun. On one side of the portal is a parking lot, poorly lit and abandoned. On the other, they step into grass. Both figures looked towards a clearing in the woods holding a gaudily decorated shack in the middle of it. Their gazes then turned at each other before the shorter one nodded.

"Our vacation begins."

* * *

The tram that drove through the woods surrounding the Mystery Shack had left fifteen minutes ago, and two things had happened in that span of time. The seventeen year old boy with bags under his eyes at the counter had fallen asleep with his face against the top and the seventeen year old girl who was supposed to be restocking had placed a small wood cutout under his cheek without him noticing. Ten minutes had passed since the latter and she figured it was time to wake the boy up. With a broad grin on her face, she walks up beside the counter and bent down near his head.

"Three... two.... one... Dipper!" Mabel screamed as loud as she could and her brother jolted upright, letting out a cry of his own as he whipped his head around.

"What?! What... Mabel?" Dipper's eyes squinted and he rubbed at them, though at bringing his hand up to his face, he could feel something stuck to his cheek. Brows furrowed as he pulled it off, looking at the small star that had been under his face. "Why was this stuck to my face?" Mabel kept grinning to him before pulling out her phone and turning the camera on so Dipper could look at the screen while it recorded him. Right where the star had been on his cheek was now a bright red mark in the same shape.

"You're so fun to mess with when you're asleep. Isn't it cute?" Dipper glared at her before groaning and trying to rub the mark away.

"It's something, alright." They look at each other for a moment and Mabel's smile started to fall. Only to pick up again when Dipper smiled to her and they laughed. As long as the mark wasn't permanent, he didn't really care. But he was going to find a way to get back at her for it. "How would you like it if I shaved a star on the side of your head while you slept?"

"That would be so cool! I might ask for that the next time I get my hair done." Mabel's hand ran along the shaved side of her head, the rest of her long hair tied back in a loose ponytail.

"Of course I'd give you that idea." Dipper rested his arms on top of the counter and rubbed at his face again, this time trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. "Soos still out with the tram?"

"Yeah. You weren't asleep for that long." Mabel made her way towards a stool placed near one of the windows of the shack, resting her back against the wall next to it. "I can't believe how much better that works compared to the golf cart."

"I can't believe Grunkle Stan got a deal on something that well built."

"He did say a guy at Wildwood owes him something." But the twins had come to learn that could mean a number of things, and half of those things were something they were better off not knowing. Dipper yawned and rested his chin atop his arms, his eyes closing as he felt exhaustion tug at him. "How long did you stay up editing your latest video?" Mabel chimed in and Dipper opened an eye and looked at her before shaking his head.

"Two in the morning... The fairies wouldn't stop flying at the camera yesterday so there was a lot I needed to cut out." The subscribers to his youtube would have to wait a few days before they'd get an update on what's weird in Gravity Falls. They stopped talking as a family walked in and started looking around, Dipper opening his eyes to watch and wait for them to buy something. Mabel kept her gaze out the window and rested her cheek against the framed, watching as people walked around and took pictures. Some were waiting for the tram to come back while others were going into the museum for one of the tours Melody was leading. Every year Dipper and Mabel worked there over the summer, they were impressed with how much more efficiently the Shack was being run. And even though it was under Soos's ownership, it was made clear that it was as much theirs as it was his. 

Mabel's gaze followed a car as it pulled in and a family climbed out, grinning at how excited the children seemed as they ran forward. She was glad that so many people were happy to come there and made it her job to make sure they enjoyed themselves as well. Once the one family was out of sight, she looked around some more and spotted two men walking in from the woods. They were carrying bags and talking to each other as they walked over towards the Shack, an oddity as it was because they didn't seem to have driven and the Shack was too far out of the way for anyone to walk there. A closer look at them and Mabel could see the taller one was dressed oddly, wearing jeans and shoes but with a top that seemed almost familiarly eccentric. As they walked closer, the men themselves seemed almost familiar.

"Hey, Dipper? Can you come over here and look at this?" Dipper got up from behind the counter with a sigh and walked over towards Mabel, looking at her before out the window where she was pointing. "Do you recognize those guys?" Dipper's brows furrowed as he looked at them, appalled by the top the taller was wearing before really studying their faces.

"They kinda look like..." He trailed off their and looked at his sister, Mabel looking back at Dipper before shaking her head and laughing.

"Can't be. Maybe it's a coincidence."

"Or they could be shapeshifters... or doppelgangers. But that one looks almost too weird to be either. And they're too youn-"

"Wait." Mabel's eyes squinted as she recognized one of the bags the taller one was carrying. "That's a rifle bag!"

"He's carrying a gun?" Dipper tensed as Mabel brought that up, only for his sister to shake her head and a grin to spread across her lips.

"He's carrying a rifle! And that top - I need to talk to him." She jumped up from the stool and started to run towards the door, only for Dipper to grab her arm and stop her.

"Wait! What if they are something dangerous. You can't just go up to them. What if you get hurt?" Mabel rolled her eyes before pulling her arm away from Dipper's grasp.

"I think the only way I'm going to get hurt is if I fall off the porch running to them. Just let me go." With that, she was out the door and jumping off the porch to head towards the men they were looking at. Dipper watched her go through the window and frowned before taking out his phone and dialing a number. He placed it to his ear and waited for the line to pick up, taking a deep breath when it did.

"Grunkle Ford? I think we've got a problem."

* * *

Unaware of what her brother was doing, Mabel took a deep breath as she got closer to approaching them, forcing herself to calm down before she approached them. They seemed too absorbed in talking to each other and looking around to notice her, Mabel clearing her throat to grab their attention and grinning when they looked at her. The resemblance she had seen from a distance was greater up close, but there were too many differences otherwise. They looked in their late twenties, the taller one with the blue top having glasses and gloves with his hair slicked back while the shorter one had long hair tied back in a man bun. Other than the long hair, his dress was more normal than the other's. Jeans and a grey long sleeve shirt with the sleeves pushed up. Their looks for the most part, though familiar to her, were also nearly identical with each other. But any questions about who they were didn't matter at the moment.

"Is that a rifle bag you have there?" Skipping her own introduction, she spoke to the taller man with glasses and gloves, making him look at the bag before back to her.

"It is." Mabel couldn't beam anymore than she already was. If that wasn't distracting her, she would have noticed how familiar his voice was. "Do you spin?" He asked her and Mabel could only nod her head furiously, noticing the shorter one roll his eyes out of her peripheral.

"Absolutely! I'm captain of my school's guard. I've been spinning since I was a freshman!" The man she was talking to smiled at her and gave a soft chuckle.

"I started my sophomore year of high school." Already telling that the conversation was going to stick in this direction, the shorter man placed a hand on the other's shoulder to get his attention.

"I'm gonna look around." Another familiar voice, but Mabel couldn't care about it. The taller nodded and the shorter walked off towards the shack. Mabel kept her gaze on the rifle bag and reached out, only to stop herself from actually touching it.

"What kind of rifle do you spin?" The taller smiled to her and unzipped the bag, pulling it out and handing it over to her.

"Elite pro. I also spin a King saber." The metal saber was pulled out of his bag and Mabel had to keep herself from grabbing it and feeling it. Instead she stared and clung to the rifle that he had handed over to her.

"That's amazing! My school can't afford them. Is it different from spinning the samurai?"

"A little. The weight is different and it's longer. Plus it hurts more when it lands on your head or your foot." He chuckled and Mabel couldn't help laughing with him, knowing just how much it hurt to have a metal blade, albeit blunt, land on something it shouldn't.

"I know that pain too much. I almost broke my nose with my rifle because the sun got in my eyes."

"I gave myself a concussion with my flag right before I had to perform at a football game. It really is a dangerous sport." Mabel grinned and handed back the rifle so the man could put it back in his bag.

"I think I'm going to like sharing painful stories with you." It seemed they had more than their fair share of blunders to talk about anyway. Mabel grinned and held out her hand to shake his. "I'm Mabel." The man nodded his head and took off one of his gloves to shake her hand with, revealing a sixth finger before he shook.

"Stanford Pines. The man that was with me before is my brother Stanley." Mabel's eyes widened and her smile vanished as her mouth dropped agape, unsure how to process that, if there was anything there to process. The shorter man, the brother, came back and looked between the two of them before laughing.

"What, did you tell her you're a world champ?" Stanford shook his head as he looked to his brother.

"No - I jus-"

"Mabel, get away from them!" Dipper's voice cut through as he walked over with Stan and Ford trailing behind, Ford moving forward and pulling out a gun to point at them.

"Get away from her!" Stanford let go of Mabel's hand and Dipper ran and dragged her sister back, the younger men holding their hands up as the shorter one grumbled.

"Great start to a vacation."


	2. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe gunpoint isn't the best way they can start off their vacation. Especially when the one holding you at gunpoint is another dimension's version of yourself. Ley and Stanford only came to see what they would be like in another dimension, but they seem to have bitten off more than they could chew. At the moment, at least.

"I do have to remind you this was your idea." Stanford glared at his brother out of the corner of his eye as they kept their hands raised, Ley rolling his eyes and giving a huff.

"Yeah yeah, You wanna fight me over it or are you gonna talk us out of this situation?" Ford still held them at gunpoint as Stan made sure Mabel was alright, eyes narrowed at the younger versions before he whistled sharply to get their attention.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"Ford's voice was steady as he spoke and kept the gun raised, Dipper moving about and making sure that no one was watching or listening in on them as they situation unraveled. The last thing they needed was for the police to be called. At least before anything could be figured out. Stanford and Ley exchanged a look and Ley put down his hands and crossed them over his chest. Ford sneered slightly and pointed the gun at the man. "Hands up!"

"You're not a cop and I'm not scared of getting shot. You're not about to attract a crowd if you shoot that off and you would've done it already if you really thought we were a threat." Stanford elbowed his brother in the shoulder before relenting and putting his own hands down. He was right in that respect.

"As I stated before, I'm Stanford Pines. This is my brother Stanley-"

"Call me Ley." Stanford glared once more before Ley waved his hand as if to dismiss that he interrupted him.

"You can't be." Ford stepped in with the comment, and though he had no direct intention to shoot either of the men before him at the moment, he still kept the gun up and pointed. "You're too young and I would never wear that kind of shirt." Ley snorted and got another elbow in the arm from his brother, the smile dropping from his face as Stanford spoke.

"Not all dimensions keep people on the same timeline." Ford's gun lowered some at that.

"You're from another dimension?" Stanford nodded and took the bag that Ley was holding, opening it up and starting to dig through. Ford raised the gun back up at pointed it at him finger near the safety switch. "Hands up!"

"Wait! I'm not going to pull out anything that will hurt you." Stanford dug through a bit more before he took out a cylindrical looking gun, hanging the bag back over to Ley and stepping forward slightly. Ford kept the gun on him for a moment before giving a sign that he could step forward. Stanford took a few more steps to close the distance between them, stopping halfway and placing the gun down on the ground. He stepped back next to Ley again and let Ford come forward and take the device off of the ground. His own gun lowered slightly as he turned it over and inspected the device.

"What is this?" He moved aside a panel and found a glowing blue form inside of it, twisting as light hit it before stilling a moment later. The panel was snapped shut and he handed it over to Dipper as the boy stepped up towards his side.

"It's a portal gun, Poindexter." Once more, Ley got his arm elbowed and the man glared at his brother and punched him lightly in the arm. "Stop doing that!"

"Learn to keep your trap shut." Stanford sighed and moved his glasses up so he could rub the corner of his eyes, setting them back down and fixing them as he looked towards the others. "As Stanley said, it's a portal gun. I developed it on my own and I used it to get here. He -" Ley glared and Stanford cleared his throat. "-we decided to take a trip to another dimension when we both had a significant amount of time off. We have been to a couple before, but this is the first where we actually ran into other versions of ourselves."

"I wanted to see what we looked like. It's a shame I'm not the hot twin here." At that, Stan glared towards Ley and stepped forward, never minding Ford hissing at him to stay back.

"I'll have you know I'm a silver fox!" Stan almost got in Ley's face before he stopped, the two of them staring each other down. Ley laughed and shook his head.

" _Please_. You're just a fat old man compared to your Ford. I'm never going to look like you when I'm your age."

"At least I'm not wearing my hair in a sissy bun."

"What, did you have a mullet when you were my age?"

"It wasn't that bad!" Stan grumbled before stepping closer and poking Ley in the chest. "And you make fun of my weight, but you don't seem that much better." At that, Stan grabbed at Ley's shirt and yanked it up. Instead of unhealthy fat covered in unruly hair, Ley's stomach and lower part of his torso was built with a small layer of fat covering the muscles that shone through from underneath. His body was shaved to top it off and Stan stared before looking up to him. "Why do you shave?" Ley grabbed his shirt and yanked it down, fixing it and grumbling to himself.

"It hurts a lot to have chest hair ripped out in the middle of a fight, y'know." 

"What sort of fighting do you do?" Dipper's voice cut through and Stan and Ley stopped staring at each other to see all eyes on them after that little tiff. Ley's shoulders rolled and he tilted his head to the side to crack his neck before answering.

"Heavyweight MMA." Dipper, Stan's, and Mabel's mouths dropped open as Ford almost seemed taken aback, Ley looking between them and his brother as his brows furrowed. "What?" Ford finally dropped his gun and slipped it back into his holster, rubbing at the corner of his eyes from under his glasses before fixing them back in their spot. Out of everything that happened, it seemed Ley's career was the one thing so surprising that further clarification was needed.

"I think we need to sit down somewhere and have a talk." Ford looked towards his younger double as he spoke and they nodded to each other. They weren't getting anywhere as they were and standing there would only attract attention when Soos and the tram of tourists came back.

"Lead the way." The six of them walked around the Shack with Ford in the lead, Stanford and Dipper following behind with Stan and Mabel lagged with Ley. 

"You really fight MMA?" Mabel looked between her Grunkle and Ley as if she couldn't even fathom something like that happening.

"Yeah. My pa got me and Stanford started with boxing when we were young. But later in my life, I took up kickboxing and judo and eventually got some fights." Stan scoffed slightly.

"At least that's the same. He did it to try and toughen you up?" If that was the same between both dimensions, then wasn't the answer already obvious? But Stan asked anyway. "And judo? What the hell's that?"

"Yeah. And a Japanese martial art." Ley wasn't sure how else he could describe it other than the bare basic.

"Like Karate?"

"Sorta?"

"Come on and sit down." Ford called out and made Mabel, Stan, and Ley pick up their pace, Dipper, Stan, and Ford sitting on one side of the picnic bench while Stanford, Ley, and Mabel sat down at the other side. Their bags were set aside and Ley leaned his arms on the table as all of them looked at each other. "Now that things are a bit calmer-"

"You mean now that you're not pointing a gun at us." Ley glared at his brother before he could be elbowed again and decided to keep his mouth shut instead of giving comments like that.

"Yes... that." Ford seemed irritated as it was and rubbed at the bridge of his nose before starting again. "Now that we're sitting down, how about you tell us what things are like in your dimension. How you've lived and how different it is compared to what we've been through?"

"That sounds good." Stanford nodded and waved a six fingered hand slightly towards the older version of himself. "Do you have anything you want to ask us outright?" Stan and Ford looked at each other before Stan turned his gaze towards Ley.

"Were you kicked out of the house in high school?" Ley's back tensed and he rubbed his face with both hands.

"You just had to go there first." Sighing, he ran the tips of his fingers through his hair before nodding his head. "Yeah, I was. Everyone thought I broke Ford's project so I was booted out of the house before I could try to explain myself."

"Did you break his project?" This time Ford asked and Ley shook his head.

"It was more complicated than that." It was a sore topic, and though Ford seemed like he would have pressed much harder for the answers, Stan decided to turn a question to Stanford.

"Why are you wearing such a ridiculous top?" Ley gave a huff of a laugh at that and the tips of Stanford's ears burned with irritation towards his brother and embarrassment that everyone, save Mabel and Ley himself, seemed to find it ridiculous.

"Before we walked through the portal, I had finished performing with my guard. We got our results back but I forgot to change until it was time to go. Stanley didn't give me any time to do so."

"Because I think it looks good on you." Instead of getting elbowed, Ley was nudged by one of Ford's arms and they smiled slightly. The questions that had been asked only seemed to lead to more that needed answering, something that all of them were starting to notice before Dipper made a suggestion.

"How about you guys just tell us what your lives were like? From the time you were kicked out," Dipper gestured towards Ley, "to now. Then we can get a whole picture?" Both versions of the twins nodded, understanding that was most likely the best option.

"Alright. Who do you want going first?" Ley asked and looked at them, only to feel a finger press to his cheek to place something there. He turned his face to see Mabel resting against the table and grinning at him, taking the sticker off that she placed there and seeing it was a picture of an apple with a worm coming out of it. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he moved the sticker to his forehead instead of his cheek. "Guessing that means I go first." Mabel kept grinning as Stanford shrugged and let his brother take over. Clearing his throat, he began. "Nineteen-ninety something, Glass Shard Beach. We lived with Ma and Pa in the Lead Paint distri-" Simultaneously, four groans erupted from the table, silencing Ley and causing Stanford to look towards the others. Stan rested his chin in his hand, Ford was rubbing his face, Dipper covered his face with both hands, and Mabel put her forehead against the table.

"We've heard that part before. Just skip past it." Mabel's voice was a little muffled against the wood table, the words causing Stanford and Ley to exchange a look before their gazes turned back.

"Really?" Dipper and Mabel nodded. Well, Mabel did what she could with her head on the table.

"Yes. Just go right to the science fair. I don't think your guys' lives could have been that much different leading up to it." Dipper took his hands away from his face and rested his chin in one of them as well. Ley frowned and rubbed the back of his neck.

"You guys do know you're asking me to jump right into what started the shitshow of my life. It's not like I actually want to talk about it."

"We know. But it'll just save all of us time, especially if we're to understand why you're so different." The point Dipper made was one that Ley surrendered to, waving a hand as if to dismiss his previous comments.

"Alright. It's not going to be nice, so don't be surprised."


	3. From the Mouth of a Figther

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ley tells his side of the story, his life. There are more differences than there are similarities after the science fair. Whether that's good or bad... well, that's up to the people who listen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Substance and alcohol abuse start and sorta end in this chapter. There's mention of it in later chapters and it's mentioned right now, but in the flashback Ley faces more withdrawal than actually using. Also, it has been known and reported that there are Yakuza in NYC so it's not unbelievable for him to have run into them. He just fucked up in some of the worst ways he could.

"Before I say anything about my past," Ley was trying to prolong thinking about it as much as he could, though he knew it would be to no avail, "what year were you when you were kicked out?" Looking towards Stan, the older man shrugged his shoulder and glanced off to the side.

"Senior year. Why?"

"That's where we differ. I got kicked out Junior year. I was out on my ass with my clothes and a little money."

"No car?"

"No car."

* * *

Even underneath the searing heat of the sun on the docks, Ley could feel a chill running along his spine. It had been a year and a half since he was kicked out of the house and nothing had gone his way whatsoever. That first week was spent trying to find a job to earn more money as he would have been completely unable to go anywhere or do anything with what little he had. If it wasn't for him and Ford going down to the docks in their younger years and getting to know the men that worked there, he would have been sleeping on the streets for longer than he had. One of the men offered him an empty room that was attached to the warehouse some of the containers and crates were stored in, as long as he worked with them the whole day five days a week and paid a slight price for the room. It was the best deal Ley had gotten in a while and he couldn't pass it up.

The only drawbacks were that the room was just a room, no furniture and only one light when he started living in it, and the only bathroom was the employee one a couple buildings over. The bathroom was devoid of a shower, however, so whenever he needed to wash up, he had to go down to the beach early in the morning and make use of the public ones there. That would have been tolerable if there was hot water in the public showers, but going as early as he did in the morning, that was unlikely for him. Unless he wanted to wait the ten minutes it took for the heated water to finally come out once it was running, but he had work to do and he was getting up early as it was. Ley would catch a chill in the beginning of the day and it would stick with him no matter how hard he worked until he finally got a warm shower in the evening.

Over time since, the room he lived in only gained a few furnishings. There was a mattress and a pillow he had bought with some of his salary so he wouldn't be sleeping on the floor, a suitcase he had in the corner to organize all of his clothes in, and a lamp he had near the bed in addition to the overhead light. Among the objects in his room outside of the furnishings were a number of books. General education books, to be exact.

Since he was kicked out of the house, Ley had given up going to high school completely. He had been two years from graduating, if he even did graduate due to his previously abysmal grades outside of the times Stanford would let him cheat. Even though he could have gone and started studying harder to try and graduate so he could move on, he couldn't bear to be around his brother. Stanford hated him for what happened with the science fair project and no matter how much he begged for forgiveness then, any more rejection would only be painful. Instead of finishing up school the conventional way, Ley took another route. After visiting the town's education department with all of the money he had saved, he bought himself all of the books he would need to study so he could get his GED and move on.

Usually some of his coworkers would help him study for the test, asking questions they knew he had trouble with and helping him study during his lunch break. But Ley had taken the test almost a week back and had been dreading the results.

That and the chill he had gotten in the morning from the shower was what kept him almost freezing even as the skin on his shoulders burned from the lack of sunblock and overexposure to the sun. Ley let out a sigh as he finished carting around one of the heavier crates on the hand truck, pulling it out from under the wood as he slipped it into its spot in the warehouse. He removed the cap from his head and wiped off some of the sweat on his brow before he heard a whistle from the opening of the building.

"Hey, Pines! Still stressing about the test?" A large man with deeply tanned skin walked over with a grin underneath his black and scraggly beard, draping an arm around Ley's shoulders and making him laugh as he was squeezed. "I thought you were done with it."

"I am, Rico. But I don't think I did well. Some of the answers were really hard and I'm sure my math scores are horrible." Ley looked away from the man and rested his arms atop the hand truck, only for his shoulders to be squeezed again and Federico to muss up his hair.

"I'm sure you did fine. You were mastering some of those questions before you took the test. Even if you froze up, I'm sure things turned out well." If it wasn't for Federico, Ley would have given up a long time before. The man was the one to offer him the room and hire him on the docks and was one of the few that helped him out with studying. He never asked for anything other than payment for the room, and even then he was lenient with the dates when he knew Ley had to pay for his books. It was the most support he had from someone in a long while and he let himself lean on the man when he needed to. Offering a smile to him, he straightened his posture out some.

"You're right... if I keep thinking I did poorly, then it's just going to make things worse. If I have to take it again... then it happens." Though Ley wanted to avoid that at all costs. Federico only nodded with him and pulled back to pat his shoulder.

"Exactly. Until then, you're only making things worse for yourself by worrying."

"Thanks, man." They smiled and Federico nodded to him before walking back towards the opening. He stopped and lingered for a moment only to turn back towards Ley.

"You can knock off early today. Go by the center and see if you've got your results in. If they're not, you can come back and work more. If they are, you can come back and work more." The two of them laughed before the man waved his hand. "Seriously. Come back if they're in. I want to know if my hard work paid off in the end." Ley nodded and finished up with the last crate he had, clocking out early and going to get a shower before he stopped by the center. Thankfully he had some clean clothes so he didn't have to worry about appalling anyone there.

Once he was done, Ley made his way towards the center and asked the woman behind the desk if his results were in before giving his name. She looked at him with a blank stare before getting up to check in the back if there was something for him. It took a few minutes before she returned and said that his results did come back and they were inside the manila envelope she handed over. Ley nodded and left with a 'thanks' heading back towards the docks and staring at the envelope the entire time. He picked at the flap and the corners but couldn't bring himself to open it just yet. The anxiety he felt over thinking he failed was almost too much and he felt sick, his stomach turning over even though he had eaten very little in the past few days.

He made his way back to the docks and picked at the envelope the entire time, only looking up when he approached some of the coworkers that had helped him study. They looked at him and Ley held up the folder, immediately being swarmed as they asked him how he did. He shook his head to show he hadn't even opened it yet, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself before he finally managed. Even when it was open, he was too scared to look as he reached in and pulled the paper out. His eyes were closed so he couldn't see the results, but he felt hands squeezing at his shoulders and he expected the worst.

Upon opening his eyes and reading the paper, Ley almost fell over.

* * *

"So you graduated before Ford?" Stan interrupted Ley's story and they looked at each other, the younger man tugging his lips to the side before shrugging his shoulders.

"Not really. I didn't graduate high school, but I got my GED. You can get better pay with it than without just like you can get more with an associate's or a bachelor's. Not as much, but it shows you finished your studies." It was on the list of some of his proudest achievements in his life and he could still remember the tension and excitement he felt just from holding that envelope in his hand. There were very few times in his life where he felt that sort of adrenaline pumping through him, and not from any substances he had consumed or used.

"So what happened after that? Did Rico congratulate you?" Mabel asked, looking to Ley with her head rested on her arms. He wasn't all that surprised that Mabel had taken an interest in Federico. Honestly, if they had met, Ley was sure the man would have adored her and she would have enjoyed talking to him.

"Yeah. He gave me the biggest hug I've ever gotten and crushed me pretty well in the process. I told him I wanted to move on to another state since I got my degree and he was supportive of it. He bought what little I had in my room and helped me sell my books back to get some more money out of it. After that, he told a friend he had in New York about me and got me a job on his docks. I packed my stuff and headed to the big apple not long after."

"And things got better?" Ley looked away as Stan asked and the smile dropped from his features. He drummed his fingers slightly atop the picnic table and stared at the grains in the wood.

"Things got a lot worse before they got better..."

"How much worse?"

"I was fine for a couple years working on the docks. It wasn't until I realized that I had no skills other than brute force that I started to slip. And when I started thinking of how I was going nowhere in life, I started trying to find ways to dull that pain."

* * *

To Ley, sobriety was a plague he could never shake off no matter how hard he tried. Over the years he had gone through different phases, using anything and everything he could to dull his mind so he wouldn't think of the dead end he threw himself into. Especially in these days, he tried his hardest not to think about how he ended up sitting in an alley, clinging to the soaked and filthy coat he had on as he tried to fight the shakes. It helped that he was too busy thinking about other things, when he would have to move and where he would find something to eat, to focus on the past.

It was most important for him to keep moving lest he be caught.

But he was too weak now. No food, no sleep, and no drugs. From alcohol to cocaine to this drug he bought called shabu, which he later learned was crystal meth, Stan could no longer pay or trick his way to feed any of the addictions he had fostered over the years. Everything seemed to hurt and he felt like his teeth were ringing on an hourly basis. The whole world was jilted and there was no way he could right it by himself.

Which was why he barely registered when some men walked down the alley and grabbed him from under his arms, dragging him into a car and closing the door behind him. The world was dry now but he still had trouble processing what the men looked like around him. He tried lifting his head and asking what was going on, only to feel the butt of a gun connect with his face. He couldn't even hear the crunch of his nose as it broke before he blacked out.

Ley wasn't sure how much time had passed when he woke back up, screaming into awareness as electricity coursed through his wet clothes and into his body. His eyes snapped open and he looked around the room, falling to his hands and knees as he was dropped and gasping in as much air as he could manage. His fingers curled in the carpet and he rubbed at his eyes before picking his head up to the man that sit in front of him. It took a moment for his vision to clear, only for his entire body to tense as he he recognized the man before him.

"Yoshimura..." A sharp kick was delivered to his sides and all of the air was knocked out of him, causing Ley to topple over and his arms to wrap around his body. He groaned out lowly, unaware of the man walking towards him until he felt the toe of a shoe tilt his head so he could his gaze would pick up.

"It is Mister Yoshimura to you, Stanley. I am not your friend so you will address me as your superior." Ley's breath shook and he had to gather himself before he nodded his head, the toe falling away from his chin as he was allowed to right himself. Though he wasn't accustomed to what he knew he had to do next, Ley knew he had to lower himself as far as he could and beg for forgiveness or time. Resting on his knees, his hands were pressed to the ground and he lowered himself so that his forehead was brushing up against the carpet. 

"I'm sorry, Mister Yoshimura... I couldn't do what you told me to... I don't have it in me to kill anyone." If he had just shot that one man in the head and been done with it, things wouldn't have ended up like they were. Ley would have gotten his next fix and he would have probably been fine with repeating the process if it needed to happen. But when he was confronted with the situation, the only thing he could find himself doing was running. It meant he would have to find something else to work for him but he knew all too well that wasn't going to happen. Ley tensed once more as he heard a hum coming from the man above him, gritting his teeth as a foot was placed on the back of his head and it was crushed against the carpet.

"I had such hopes for you, too." Yoshimura kept his foot there for a moment before pulling back, his steps growing distant as the man walked back to the seat he was in before. Ley lifted his head and looked at him, swallowing around the lump in his throat as he sat up.

"I can do something else for you... anything else. Just... please... I can't kill anyone." Ley knew how pathetic he sounded, but his life had become something worse than pathetic. The chuckle he heard coming from Yoshimura was more than unsettling and he gripped at his clothes tightly.

"I am sorry, Stanley. But I have no other use for you." With a wave of the man's hands, the guards that had been surrounding them started to advance on Ley. He started backing up from them on the ground and scrambled, begging, pleading, and crying out to be spared of any kind of wrath that was to be enacted on him. But all of his cries fell on deaf ears as he was beaten and broken, made bruised and bloodied.

When the Yakuza was done with him, they threw him back in the car and onto the streets, leaving him with nothing but the few coins he kept in the only torn sock he wore. Ley could barely move as he felt rain beat down on him, the concrete of the curb pressing against some ribs they had broken and making him sob. Everyone that walked the streets ignored him as he laid there, trying to think through the pain to figure out what alley he could crawl into and not be bothered. His gaze moved about the people until he saw a phone booth, his left hand curling into a slight fist before he forced himself to stand up. The walk over was painful but the shelter from the rain was a blessing, even though he could smell himself worse than ever in the small enclosed space. He took off his sock and grabbed the few quarters as they dropped onto the ground, slipping them into the machine and punching in a number. At first, he didn't expect anyone to pick up. But when he heard that familiar voice ask who it was on the end of the line, Ley did everything he could to hold back another sob.

"Stanford... I need help."

* * *

Save for Stanford, everyone at the table stared at Ley as he wrapped up that bit of his life. The gazes on him were uncomfortable and he had to clear his throat to snap them out of it, Ford being the first to shake his head as he looked to him.

"Stanley... How could you go through that?" There was obvious worry in Ford's voice even though he wasn't the version that had to deal with that mess of a life. Ley rubbed at the back of his neck and looked away once more.

"Things happen. Stanford got to me within a day and got me hospitalized. I was treated for every injury I had and then I was put right into rehab. It took a while, but I cleaned up my act. I've been sober since then." Ley felt one of Stanford's hands squeeze his arm and he smiled, finding himself relaxing into the touch so easily. "After I got out, I started working. More physical labor, but Stanford let me stay in his apartment as he traveled the world as long as I took care of it. We live streamed so he knew how I was doing and I paid for myself to go through community college. I got an associate's in mechanical engineering after two years and Stanford was back by that time. We've been living in the same apartment and he helped me with my studies to get a bachelor's once I transferred the credits over. During the breaks when I wasn't working or studying, I started going to a gym and I took some of the lessons they had there. One of the owners saw I had talent and he started training me. After my first fight, I found a passion for it and kept with it. Not much else between then and now." The others seemed to snap out of the horrified stupor they were in once he moved onto a lighter topic, though Stan still stared at him as if he had a million questions. Mabel was busy clinging to the corner of Ley's shirt as if that would be of comfort to either of them and Dipper was still stunned silent.

"I guess it's your turn to speak up?" Ford gestured towards his younger version and Stanford nodded, shifting slightly in his seat.

"I guess so. I can promise it will be an easier story to tell and listen to..." Ley and Stanford exchanged a small smile before the man started.


	4. From the Mouth of a Teacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Stanford's turn to tell his story. What it lacks in pain and terrible things, it makes up for in other ways.

"You can start a little before the science fair, young Grunkle Ford." Mabel let go of Ley's shirt in favor of turning her attention to the other man, Stanford looking at her with furrowed brows as he thought about the name he was just called.

"You... can just call me Stanford, alright?" Mabel scoffed and waved a hand towards him.

"Nah. 'Young Grunkle Ford' is more specific and fun to say." There was a look on the man's face that showed he was about to insist to be called Stanford, only for it to drop as he resigned to the name. If they were going to stick around for longer than they planned, then he might as well let her enjoy that.

"Okay. But why do you want me to start earlier?" Ley cleared his throat as soon as Stanford asked, only to cough the words 'color guard' into his fist. Mabel's smile beamed brighter and Dipper and Stan both groaned at the thought of having to hear about that, though interest piqued on Ford's expression.

"I would like to know how you got into it. It's not something I would do."

"Probably because they didn't have it when you went to high school. And if they did, only girls signed up."

"There were only girls when he signed up too." Ley couldn't stop himself from butting in and grinning, only for Stanford to nudge his arm in the same spot for the umpteenth time that day. "You know I'm going to have a bruise there."

"You're used to it." Stanford sighed as he looked towards the older version of himself, toying with the rifle bag as it leaned up against the table. "Our father got us into boxing when we were young but I never really took to it. I learned some things but I didn't have the strength or dexterity that Stanley did at the time. Our mother let me quit before high school as long as I promised to find some extracurricular activity. It took a while, but after I saw our school's guard perform during a pep rally my freshman year, I was interested in joining. I think they were excited to have a boy on the team so they taught me everything there was to know. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would." Ley looked like he wanted to say something once again but a glare from his brother caused him to stop, the grin dropping from his lips. "There's not much else to say about it. I stopped my senior year because I was focusing on studying to get into a good college since I lost the chance to go to my choice."

"You can really start there if you want to." Dipper spoke up this time and Stanford nodded. That was what the majority truly seemed interested in learning about and he was about to get there anyway.

"Stanley had more to say about his past than mine, so I can't promise there will be much to say. But I'll start with Senior year."

* * *

"Stanford Pines to the principal's office. Stanford Pines to the principal's office." The voice coming through the PA system cut through the library as Ford sat at one of the tables during his free period. Books were stacked up around him and a few test booklets were opened to random pages, Stanford looking through them all and writing down answers when he found or thought of them. If he had won the science fair the year before, he would have been able to skip a grade and use the scholarship that he would have gotten to go to university early. But with that chance dashed, he worked twice as hard to try and earn another to his second choice school. It wasn't as hard as Stanford was making it for himself, but he buried his nose in work so he wouldn't think about the empty bunk bed that was directly under his own. The feelings of betrayal and hurt wasn't enough to keep him from missing his twin brother so he did what he could to help with that.

Looking up from one of the test booklets as the woman's voice on the system finally processed, Stanford got up and started putting some books away while stuffing the rest into his backpack. Maybe this was another chance at a scholarship for his first choice. Maybe he could let himself hope that his chances weren't ruined by the one person he put his trust into almost all of his life.

Stanford walked through the office and into the principal's room to find his parents sitting in front of the desk. Just as they had that one meeting that seemed so long ago. Only this time, there was a TV on a cart right next to the principal's desk. His gaze moved from that to his parents before he sat down in the chair between them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your studies, Stanford. And your days, Mister and Misses Pines." The principal spoke, his hands folded on top of his desk as he leaned on his arms.

"Just tell us what this is about." Stanford's father had his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at the principal through his sunglasses, his mother taking a more lax position as she had one leg crossed on top of the other.

"Is something wrong?" She spoke up and Stanford looked between them before back towards the principal.

"Kind of. We got a call from West Coast Tech about one of their students. You remember Dexter Teller, don't you Stanford?" Stanford's brows furrowed but he nodded almost immediately.

"Yes... we were competing for that scholarship. His project was what got him in over mine breaking down..."

"What does that have to do with this?" Filbrick spoke up, irritation laced in his voice before the principal waved his hand as if to try and calm things down.

"I'm getting there. It seems that Dexter is a problem child on top of being a genius. He was having difficulties with a few of his classmates since he started going there and, coincidentally, his classmate's projects were breaking down. They have cameras installed on their campus like we have posted around some hallways of the school and they caught him sneaking into the classrooms and messing with different machines and experiments. West Coast Tech called us up to ask if your son would still like to go once they finish penalizing Dexter." Both Stanford's parents and Stanford himself brightened at the opportunity arising like this, but the principal waved his hand once more to stop any questions or interruptions from them. "Before I give you their number and information about the scholarship he'll qualify for, the call had me thinking about how Stanford's project broke down last year. We didn't think of foul play because things just happen. And when Stanley was accused, I wasn't surprised. So the situation was dropped... but after learning of what Dexter did there, I decided to look through the tapes from last year. And... well, this is what I called you in for."

The principal turned his chair towards the television and dragged it a little closer, turning it and the VCR on before popping in a tape. The screen flashed to life and revealed a bright and crowded scene from the last day of the fair before the scholarship board from West Coast Tech would come. He pressed fast-forward and the scene sped up, the light in the gym fading as the people filed out quickly, the tape being played at normal speed when it drew closer to the dark of the evening.

"Watch here." Things seemed peaceful in the dark of the school for a few moments until there was movement in one of the corners. Someone in a black sweatshirt was moving about through the displays before stopping at Stanford's project. It was too far away for anyone to make out who it was or what they were doing, but they could see that something was being done. The figure stopped when one of the gym doors opened and Ley walked through, eating from the bag of toffee peanuts as he looked at all of the displays and grumbled to himself. The black figure fled as Ley drew closer and threw the bag down. He smacked the table and then scrambled to try and fix it, only to back out and take off when he realized what happened. The principal stopped the tape there and looked to the Pines family, silence filling the room. He cleared his throat before speaking up again. "I know it should have been checked earlier and this is completely my fault. But from this tape, it seems Stanley didn't break it. He made the last move without meaning to, but it was broken by someone else."

Stanford couldn't take his eyes from the screen, his hands curled into fists and pressed against his legs, his knuckles going white. His mother looked between him and his father, Filbrick standing up after a moment before leaving the room entirely. The principal and Stanford's mother watched but all Stanford could do was keep staring at the screen, any hurt and betrayal he felt suddenly being replaced with guilt and anger towards himself.

"I understand if you want to take him home early, Misses Pines... go look for your son." Stanford's mother nodded and guided Stanford up with his bag, leading him out of the office to go home. He was quiet the entire ride.

* * *

"So... you didn't break the machine...?" Ford asked and looked in Ley's direction, the younger man shaking his head in response.

"No." Stanford spoke up to answer for him before continuing on. "We heard he was working down at the docks but he'd left for New York before we could get to him. Our mother had to take care of Shermie and our father had to run the store so we couldn't drop everything to look for him. We tried getting into contact with him but nothing seemed to work. Stanley was gone."

"What..." Dipper tried speaking up, clearing his throat when his voice croaked and continuing then. "What happened with your school, then?"

"I decided not to go to West Coast Tech. The scholarship I qualified for was just a qualification and I had earned a full ride at another university. So I took that and started studying immediately. I got my bachelor's two years ahead of schedule as I spent all of my time and my breaks taking classes. After that was graduate school and I was going to get my PHD a year ahead of schedule when Stanley called and asked for help."

* * *

As soon as Stanford got the call from his brother, he dropped everything and contacted their parents to say he had found Ley. His mother was ecstatic and told him to keep her updated as he made his way to New York to find him. It took a day of traveling to the city before he got even close to finding his brother, another half day spent wandering the streets. When Stanford had come across him, he thought Ley was dead. His face was pale, he was covered in bruises and blood, and his breathing was shallow enough to almost be nonexistent.

When he found a pulse, he rushed him right to the hospital. At Ley's bedside was where Stanford sat since he was admitted and taken care of, waiting for his brother to wake up so he could talk to him. Guilt ate away at him every time he looked at the condition Ley was in but there was nothing more he could do about it. Stanford's fingers played with the edge of the bedsheets as he waited, only to stop when he heard a groan coming from the man.

"What..." Ley spoke and looked around, one eye swollen shut and the other squinting to the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital. He tried raising his right hand only to find it bandaged, wincing as the painkillers were wearing off and a slight pain settled into his body. Stanford sat up and placed a hand on the man's arm.

"You're in a hospital, Stanley... Just relax." Ley's eye squinted some more and he turned his head to look at Stanford, his left hand moving to rest atop the six fingered one that rested against the bed.

"Ford...?" Stanford smiled slightly to him and brought his chair closer to the bed so he could rest against it slightly. He hadn't slept in the past couple days because of how worried he had been for Ley, and how worried he still was. He turned his hand over to hold onto his brother's and squeeze it, the simple touching doing more to ground him and comfort him than anything else. "You... came."

"Of course I did. I'm..." Stanford swallowed around the lump in his throat before rubbing at his face with his free hand, pushing his glasses aside before fixing them back on his nose. "I'm so sorry... for everything that happened." Stanford closed his eyes and he felt Ley's hand squeeze his back. He opened his eyes after a moment and looked up to his brother, seeing Ley looking back at him and smiling to him.

"Love you, Stanford..." Ley's voice was quiet and his expression seemed to soften as he looked like he was dozing off again. Stanford smiled back to him and took his hand to kiss the top of it.

"Love you too, Stanley."

* * *

"Stanley summed up much of what happened after the hospital and rehab. I stayed there and helped him through it while I finished my thesis. Once that was done, I let him stay in my apartment while I traveled around the world. We lived together when I came back and I got back into color guard when I was working myself to the bone with my research. There's not much else to talk about between then and now." Stanford wrapped up the story and rested against the top of the picnic table, Ford looking to him before shaking his head as a question came to mind.

"Did you come to Gravity Falls at some point?"

"For a year. It's enormously famous for all of the anomalies that have occurred over the years, but I found more luck in Europe. I actually got to meet a sphinx in Greece." One of the bags that Ley and Stanford had come with had been a backpack, Stanford reaching and grabbing it before pulling out his own journal and handing it over. Ford and Dipper opened it and flipped through the pages, not only finding more creatures than Ford had recorded in his own journals but experiments and devices that were ahead of what Ford had developed before he was unable to continue his research.

"This is amazing..." Dipper spoke up and Stan took a peek over their shoulders to look at the pages before standing up from his seat.

"Yeah... and it's getting late out. We should head back." Stan stretched out his back and Mabel stood up from her seat as well, stretching her arms up before going over and looking at the book from over her brother's shoulder.

"If you need a place to stay, Fiddleford has rooms he doesn't use. And they're still furnished so they have beds and sheets." Ford spoke though he kept his gaze to the book, flipping through a few pages before finally looking up to Stanford and Ley. The twins looked at each other before nodding and standing from the picnic table as well.

"Better than finding a motel to stay at."

"I'd like to meet this version of Fiddleford as well." They agreed and started moving towards the car, Ford leading the way with Stanford as Dipper clung to the book and flipped through as they walked. Mabel made sure to guide him part of the way so he didn't trip over tree stumps or walk into a tourist. Once they were at the car, she pulled away.

"I've got to go tell Melody and Soos we're leaving." With that, she started making her way towards the Shack. Stan looked at the remaining people as he Stanford and Ley finished putting their bags in the truck.

"Alright, so who's sitting where?"


	5. Rest Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The car ride to Fiddleford's mansion isn't long but there's enough to talk about to slow Ford down as he drives along the road. While Stanford, Dipper, and Ford talk about the journals he keeps and his adventures, Mabel, Stan, and Ley talk about their own things.

If it hadn't been for the El Diablo having a bench seat in the front and the back, someone would have had to get a ride or sit on another person's lap. Four people could fit comfortably in the car without any problems so six wasn't too much of a squeeze, as long as the smaller of the people kept to the middle. In the front, Ford drove, Dipper sat in the middle, and Stanford was in the passenger while the back had Ley in the driver's side, Mabel in the middle, and Stan on the passenger's side. It was obvious that they had grouped themselves in the specifications of what was more interesting to talk about, but it was a while before anyone really said anything as they drove. Eventually, it was Ford who started the conversation.

"Because you have your own portal gun, that means you've traveled to different dimensions, right?" Ford glanced to Stanford around Dipper and the younger version nodded.

"I've gone to a few. There was one where I ran into some men who gave me my dimension's code. I had no idea there was even a list of all of the dimensions that have been discovered." Dipper looked up from the journal when the conversation started and glanced at Stanford.

"A code?" Stanford nodded and flipped to a page in his journal where he kept a few of the codes from the other dimensions he had visited.

"Yep. Ours is M-352. The men gave me a log that I could input into the gun that had a categorized list all of the different dimensions discovered. When we came here, Stanley randomly generated a number and opened the portal. Yours is 39-F." Ford looked over to the two before in the rearview mirror to Ley, his fingers tapping against the wheel.

"If it was randomly generated, you could have ended up anywhere. What were you thinking?" Ley glared to Ford through the mirror before shrugging his shoulders.

"But it didn't so we don't have to worry about anything." The tension was palpable after what he said as it climbed, only for it to be dispelled as Stanford spoke up again.

"We're here and safe anyway. That's all that matters." The front seat's attention was directed back towards the journal as Dipper flipped to a page with one of the creatures Stanford had come across, the three of them talking about it while Stan, Ley, and Mabel were left to themselves. They looked at each other, Mabel placing another sticker next to the one Ley had on his forehead before Stan spoke.

"So, you're a fighter and you don't look half bad. You must be pretty popular, huh?" Ley smirked to his older version and nodded his head once.

"It helps to be national champion in my weight class. I've got a couple more fights before I compete for world champion." Ley took out his phone and pulled up an after picture from the championship fight, him standing in the middle of the ring beaten and bloody but with the belt in his hands. Both Mabel and Stan seemed in awe before handing the phone back over.

"Impressive. I'm sure that gets you a lot of action too." Stan winked to him and Ley's expression tightened minutely, glancing towards the front seat and seeing that Stanford was looking over his shoulder to him, the conversation in the front not halted but paused for a moment.

"That's probably not what he's got on his mind when he's in that ring." Ford spoke up and looked to them in the rearview mirror, Stanford still looking at Ley before turning and facing the road once more. Ley chuckled to himself and tilted his head to the side.

"It's pretty important. I've got a lot of people who want me, but I only go for the ones I want back." Stan laughed at his comment and Mabel gave him a light shove on the shoulder.

"I'm sure you're quite the ladies man." She laughed some too.

"More like a player. Good for you." Even though it wasn't exactly the truth, Ley wasn't about to correct Stan. And when he looked out the window and saw the mansion they were approaching, any other thoughts he had in his head were wiped clean as he stared.

"Wait... you guys live here?" Ford pulled into the long driveway and parked around the circle, being the first to get out of the car even as the rest followed.

"Fiddleford lets is live here during the summer. The rest of the year round, Stanley and I travel around the world." Ford helped Stanford and Ley get some of their bags from the car, the six of them walking in while Ley was still in awe over the sheer size of the building.

"How can he afford such a place?" Stanford fixed his glasses as he set his rifle bag down by the door, only for laughter to come from one of the entrances as the man himself stepped in.

"Inventions and patents go a long way there, partner." Ley almost jumped at the sight of the man, bent over and looking to be far more aged than their other versions while Stanford walked forward and towards him.

"Wait, our Fidds is younger than us. He looks-"

"Fiddleford is younger... but he's been through a lot over the years." Ford cut in before Ley could finish his sentence, Stanford and Fiddleford looking at each other and the smaller man grinning up to him.

"I knew things would be different with alternate versions, but you look like a man hogtied in leather and glitter." Fiddleford laughed and the tips of Stanford's ears burned before he managed a laugh as well.

"I suppose that's not the worst I've been called." Dipper and Mabel walked past and said hi to Fiddleford, the man returning the greeting before his attention was turned back to Stanford. His expression became more serious, though the smile kept to his lips.

"I hope you're taking good care'a me over there. The last thing I want is for another version of myself to lose my mind." Ley and Stanford couldn't stop their curiosity from piquing at the mention of that, wondering how much the man had seen and to what extent it had driven him mad. Buy Ley learned to keep his mouth shut in favor of good relationships right now and Stanford nodded his head.

"I've never pushed him past his limit and he's stuck by me through thick and thin. If anything happened to him, I'm not sure I would be able to forgive myself." Fiddleford looked up to him and the smile softened as the older man placed a hand on Stanford's shoulder.

"That's all I ask..." His expression lightened more and he let go of Stanford's shoulder to slap his knee. "Now you boys go and get rooms for yourselves. There's more than enough to go around. Just don't wreck up the place any more than I already have." Fiddleford laughed and went on his way, Ford following after the man as Stan left in the direction of the kitchen. Stanford and Ley grabbed their bags and made their way up the stairs and down one of the hallways. They listened to the rooms to make sure they were empty before opening them, Ley choosing one room closest towards the stairs while Stanford took one a little further down the hall. It wasn't long before their clothes were put away and they settled in, Ley exiting his room so he could see his brother. He didn't knock as he opened the door, smirking as he saw Stanford half dressed as he got out of his outfit. The man looked towards him and smiled.

"Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all." Ley chuckled at the comment and stepped in, closing the door behind him and locking it.

"I told you it would be fun to see what other versions of us are like." The distance between them was closed and Stanford tossed aside the shirt that he was about to put on, standing there in only his jeans as Ley stopped not even a foot away. "Other than having a gun pointed at us, I think we might actually enjoy ourselves here." He reached out with one of his hands to run his fingers along Stanford's bare stomach, the man's breath hitching slightly as he stepped even closer.

"Maybe for a couple of weeks... I've got enough time off." One of Stanford's hands reached up to take Ley's hair out of the bun, letting it fall to shoulder length before he buried his fingers in the locks and tugged. Ley couldn't stop the groan that escaped, wrapping an arm around his brother's waist.

"Let's spend some of that time however we want." Without any further hesitation or words shared between them, the distance closed and they kissed, Stanford tugging at Ley's hair a bit harder and making him groan into the kiss. Ley's hands grabbed at Stanford's hips, his fingers then moving down to start undoing his pants and groping him through the fabric. Stanford let out a small noise and turned them around, pushing his brother down onto the bed and standing over him. He licked his lips as Ley smirked up to him, working his own shirt off and tossing it to the side.

"I notice you packed the collar." The smirk was not only on Stanford's lips as he spoke but in his voice, leaning over his brother and kissing along his jawline and neck. Ley hummed and his toes curled as he ran his fingers through the back of Stanford's hair and gave a tug of his own.

"You asked if I packed what we needed. You didn't say anything about what I wanted." Stanford bit along Ley's neck and made him gasp, his back arching as he ground his hips up against the other. His breathing shuddered as he let it out, pulling Stanford down on top of him a bit more and mouthing at his cheek. "Fuck..."

"That's what I'm planning to do." The smirk was still in Stanford's voice and Ley could only grin, pulling the man's head back and away from his neck so they could kiss again. Hands roamed along each other's bodies and Ley went back to working at his brother's pants, pushing them down once they were undone and arching his back as Stanford ground down against him. The confines of his own pants were bordering between painful and uncomfortable as Stanford ground down once more, only to pull back from the kiss so he could start kissing down Ley's neck and chest. His hands worked dexterously at Ley's pants and he had them off in no time, though his lips worked at his chest, capturing a nipple and dragging his teeth along the sensitive skin. Ley cried out before a hand was placed to his mouth, Stanford looking up to him and dragging his tongue as the man moaned underneath his hand. "Don't be too loud... You don't want to be caught and kicked out already." Glaring at his brother, Ley nodded his head and let it fall back against the mattress as Stanford started to move lower, one of his legs being hiked up over Stanford's shoulder as the man's lips dragged along his cock.

Ley pressed a hand over his own mouth as a moan threatened to erupt from him, his toes curling and his hips twitching as Stanford took him into his mouth and started sucking. It wasn't long before Ley was fully erect and Stanford was pulling off of him, earning a glare as he pulled back and leaned back over him. The glare was gone as soon as he felt Stanford grinding his naked erection on him, the saliva left behind from the man blowing him making the friction more delicious than awkward. Ley spread his legs to let Stanford fit comfortable between them and they kissed once more, noses brushing up against each other as Ley nipped at Stanford's lower lip. The man groaned, only to be echoed by Ley's own as Stanford's hand wrapped around their cocks, adding pressure as they ground against each other. Their hips rolled and the orgasm built up almost too quickly, Ley's head falling back from the kiss as he moaned and thrust into his brother's hand. He came within a few more strokes and Stanford was not long behind, lying beside Ley when they were done and looking to the man.

Looking over to him, Ley chuckled at how askew his brother's glasses were and fixed them, only for the man to take his hand and kiss the top of it.

"I thought you said you were going to fuck me..." Ley laughed a little more, Stanford joining him before shaking his head.

"I didn't want to pull away to look for lube and a condom. But if you're up for another round, I won't argue."

It was almost bizarre how easily Ley started to twitch back to life from those few words, but he wasn't about to question.


	6. Journals and Judo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple days after Ley and Stanford start staying with at the mansion with the others, Mabel and Stan decide to see what Ley can do with the skills he's learned from fighting. Dipper is reluctantly dragged along for the ride, but it's not as bad as it seems.

"Why do I have to train with you guys again?" Dipper groaned as he his shirt, Stan wrapping his hands with some bandages they had gotten the day before and Ley helping Mabel wrap her hands as well. It had been decided by Stan and Mabel that they wanted to learn some of the moves that Ley knew, Stan more interest to see if he still used boxing techniques and Mabel just wanting a chance to kick some butt. Dipper would have still been with Stanford and Ford if they hadn't told him to just join in and try to have some fun. Sitting there on the bench in the back grounds of the mansion, he couldn't imagine in any way how this could be fun, especially if they were just going to hit each other.

"Because you're like a limp noodle, Dipper." Mabel laughed as her hands were done being wrapped, flexing her fingers and standing up. "What you don't have in muscles, you can make up for in skill! Now quit being a grumpy grump." She leaped over to Stan to see if he could show her anything he remembered while Ley stood up from where he had been kneeling. He made his way over and knelt in front of Dipper, taking one of his hands and wrapping it.

"But I've got no use for this. I don't do anything physical that'll call for this at some point." Dipper insisted that he didn't need to be there, only for Ley to look up at him before focusing back on his hands.

"Which is why you need to learn something. There are points in life where sometimes you can't avoid a fight. It's better to know how to defend yourself at the very least." Other than run away, which was self-preservation in Ley's eyes and not defense. Dipper shut up at that point and watched as his hands were wrapped, memorizing how Ley did one before he moved onto the other. If this was going to become a common occurrence while Ley and Stanford stayed there, then he didn't want to have his hands wrapped by someone else all the time. His gaze moved from the wrappings to the black glove Ley wore on his right hand, something he had noticed Ley was never without since the first day they met.

"Hey Ley...?" Dipper was almost hesitant to ask about the glove, especially if there was a reason he kept it on, but curiosity always seemed to win over courtesy for him. Ley looked up and stopped wrapping for a moment. "Why are you always wearing that glove?" Ley's own gaze dropped to it and he opened his mouth to say something, only for Stan to cut through an interrupt him.

"Yeah, I was wondering that too! Is that some kind of weird fashion trend where you come from? Just like having your pinky finger sticking out all the time." Stan mocked by sticking his own out and sipping at an imaginary cup of tea, Mabel laughing and sticking her own at as well. Though, where Stan was being mocking, Mabel was just having fun. Ley's eyes rolled and he finished wrapping Dipper's hands before he stood up and faced them. He pulled off the glove and tossed it to the side, holding his hand out for them to see.

The pinky finger of his right hand had been cut off at the middle knuckle joint, leaving him with four and a half fingers on the one hand and five on the other. Stan dropped his pinky the same time his mouth dropped open, Mabel and Dipper staring at the hand as well before looking at him.

"That's what happens when you screw with the Yakuza. On top of being beaten half to death, you lose your finger." Without another word, Ley sat down on the bench next to Dipper and started wrapping his own hand, a tense silence hanging in the air as no one seemed to know what to say. Dipper cleared his throat after a few moments and rubbed at the back of his neck.

"That's... I'm sorry about that."

"Me too..." Stan spoke up, guilt almost visible on his lips as the three of them looked at Ley. Ley picked his gaze up from his hands and his expression seemed hurt for a second before he burst into a grin and started laughing. All of them were taken aback before Stan started laughing as well. Then Mabel joined in, leaving Dipper to be the odd one out and confused over everything that was happening.

"It's fine. It happened a while ago and I've stopped caring about it. Doesn't even hurt anymore." Ley wiggled the gimp pinky at them and Mabel made a face before laughing again. He was quick with wrapping his hands once they stopped laughing, as if he had done it a million times before, standing up once it was done and heading over towards Mabel and Stan. Dipper sat on the bench and stared for a while longer before getting up just as Ley was teaching Mabel the positions he took in the ring before he or his opponent would make a move. While Ley was doing that, Stan helped Dipper with a few boxing stances, showing how to follow through with a punch in slow motion before picking it up. After practicing for a while, Stan moving on to help Mabel and Ley helping Dipper with his stance, Stan called out to Ley with a grin in his voice.

"When you were in middle school, did you ever get to kick the crap out of Crampelter?" Dipper watched as the grin broadened on Ley's lips, his hands waving at Dipper to tell him to advance and his body dodging easily at every punch that was thrown.

"Yeah. He made fun of pa signing me and Ford up for boxing. Once he got in the ring to try and beat me, I wiped the floor with him." Stan laughed at that before he made a sound as Mabel accidentally hit him.

"Hey - watch it kid." Mabel apologized and Ley looked over to her, leaving Dipper on his own as he made his way over to his bag and got out a pair of gloves. He went over to Stan and Mabel afterwards and tossed the gloves to her.

"Here. Get them to fit as best as you can and then I want you to come at me." Stan left to stand beside Dipper as Mabel got her hands ready, tapping the gloves together before taking a similar stance to the one Ley was in. "Try to hit me as hard as you can. The gloves will pad the impact - if you manage to get me." Ley smirked and Mabel only grinned, lashing out as skillfully as she could, though she stumbled a few times when Ley dodged and nudged her a different direction. Every time she swung, he dodged. It was becoming obvious how irritated she was getting and she started to hit harder, this time Ley blocking one of the punches before he was blindsided and given a shot to the side of his face. Mabel stopped as Ley staggered.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Le-"

"Whoo!" Ley interrupted and let out a laugh, Mabel looking at him in a confused manner before he shook his head. "Don't worry about it, kid. You've got a mean right hook. Keep working on it." It took a moment for her to grin at him, taking the gloves off and handing them over. "Go get some water. I'm gonna rough your brother up a little." She didn't wait to head right over to the bench for a drink, Stan following and sitting down to watch as Ley worked with Dipper. He tossed the gloves over and Dipper just managed to catch them, strapping them on as Ley took off his shirt and tossed it to the side. Dipper couldn't help staring at Ley as he stood there half dressed, forgetting what they were doing at the moment until a wolf whistle sounded shrilly. Dipper flinched and looked over towards Mabel and Stan as they sat there, the two of them grinning and laughing as Ley flexed.

"Looking good!" Mabel called out and Stan laughed, Ley flexing for a moment or two more before he waved a hand at them.

"I look better than good. I look fucking amazing!" Ley laughed and Dipper couldn't stop staring at him once his attention was turned back. In Dipper's mind, it was only rational for him to be staring at the man. He was thickly muscled from years of hard work and there were very few people that would look at him and not find him attractive. But he wasn't staring out of interest. It was just admiration.

Or so he kept telling himself. This was another version of his Grunkle Stan. It would be weird and abnormal for him to be attracted, right?

"Hey, Dipper." The voice calling out to him made Dipper snap back into awareness, his head shaking as he looked around before back to Ley. The man was in front of him, standing a bit closer than he was before with a look of worry on his face. Dipper's ears burned as his cheeks flushed slightly and Ley's brows furrowed to the sudden change in expression. "You doing alright? We haven't been out that long." Dipper nodded his head before clearing his throat to talk, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

"Yeah - I'm good." Dipper cleared his throat again and took the stance that Ley had tried to each him. His hands were up and his gloves were fixed tight, but his legs were standing a bit awkward and he seemed to try and cover his face with his fists too much. Ley shook his head and stood beside Dipper before arranging his fists.

"You want to keep them up but don't block your vision, alright?" He moved Dipper's hands some before one of his feet went between his legs to nudge at his ankles. "And spread your stance more. It'll be easier for you to topple over if you're feet are too close together and you're unsure of where to put them." Dipper moved as Ley wanted him to before the man circled back in front of him and held up his hands. He waved for Dipper to advance and he did, trying to keep himself steady as he threw a few punches. Hesitating with one of the follow through's was a mistake, however, as Ley grabbed his arm and spun him around, rolling him onto the ground and placing a foot on Dipper's chest when he was on his back. Ley grinned down and laughed. "Your head's a million miles away. I think you're done for the day." Dipper's face burned bright right for a moment before Ley took his foot off and helped him up.

"Sorry... I'm just not good with this."

"You'll get good, kid." Ley clapped a hand on Dipper's shoulder before going and getting a drink for himself. Dipper tried not to watch as the man walked away, turning his head down as he took off the gloves and walked to set them on the bench. All four of them wrapped up after that and went inside to cool off, Ley continuing to walk around without a shirt before he went to hit the showers. Try as hard as Dipper might have, he was unable to ignore Ley until the man was up the stairs out of sight. Letting out a big sigh, he figured he needed something to distract him and his thoughts (or any images his thoughts tried to conjure up. So he went down to the lab to see what Ford and Stanford were doing. At least there he could busy himself with monsters and creatures. They were more interesting for him to think about anyway. Yet again, that was what he kept telling himself. Eventually it would work the more he said it.


	7. Loaded, but Not Locked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few more days past and it's almost been a week since they started staying there. Ley and Stanford are too comfortable to go visit any other dimensions at the moment and they're honestly enjoying themselves. But they keep going to sleep at odd hours and missing each other. They can't be affectionate with anyone else around and it's driving them crazy. This is what happens when they can't hold back any longer.

Neither Stanford nor Ley could ask for anything better when it came to where they were staying and who they were staying with. The more they talked about their dimension and learned about the one they were staying in, the more interested the both of them were. Ley enjoyed talking with Mabel and Stan and getting to see what Ford, Fiddleford, and Dipper were working on was something he was coming to like. Stanford was feeling a similar sort of joy, playing games with Mabel and Stan every so often and spinning with Mabel when she wanted to use his equipment. The two of them had even watched a few videos that Dipper had on his youtube and they were amazed how many people seemed to believe him, though the majority still didn't.

All in all, things were going well for them.

The only thing they could complain about was not getting any time for each other. Ever since that first night, Ley and Stanford almost always seemed to be separated. Ford wanted to know everything that Stanford had discovered and Stan wanted to compare and contrast stories with Ley. In the middle, the kids would want to involve them in some aspect of their life and they would be separated once more. To top it off, they were going to bed at different times and Ley always managed to pass out before Stanford finally went to bed at two in the morning. If it weren't for his brother's courtesy, Ley wouldn't have minded if he was woken up just to hold onto him. But that didn't happen. And because that didn't happen, there was a tension that was building up between them.

Every morning they got up early and had a few moments to kiss each other, but just as it would get serious, a door would open at the end of the hallway and either Dipper or Mabel would call out for Stanford or Ley. Their day would start and they didn't even get the chance to enjoy the little time they had. If that tension was left to build up after a couple of days, it wouldn't have been a problem. But after almost a week of them getting nothing more from each other than kissing and grinding without relief, the both of them seemed about ready to pop.

That night, Dipper and Mabel had arranged a line of movies for everyone, including Fiddleford, to watch. They set up the television in the large living room and got the snacks and food ready, everyone taking spots on the couch, one of the chairs around it, or the ground. Though the only ones on the ground were Mabel and Dipper, both of them propped up and lying on top of a mountain of pillows to make it more comfortable for them. Fiddleford took one of the chairs as Ford took the other, leaving Stanford, Stan, and Ley to sit on the couch, the piece of furniture wide enough for them to have a comfortable amount of space to themselves.

Halfway through the first movie, Ley had moved his feet into Stanford's lap and let them rest there, toes wiggling and heel pressing innocently against his brother's thigh for a little while. It wasn't until they got near the end of the movie before he started pressing his heel higher up Stanford's thigh, slowly kneading closer to his groin with every motion. The only reaction he got from that was Stanford grabbing his foot and squeezing, his other hand taking one of his toes and popping it just when there was a loud noise coming from the movie. Ley winced and pulled his foot back, glaring at his brother as he rubbed it before settling back against the couch. When the movie was over, Dipper set up the next one as Mabel got some more snacks, Stan and Ford getting up to stretch their legs and Fiddleford fast asleep in his chair. Ford helped him up and to his room while Stanford and Ley sat there, looking at each other as Ley nudged against his brother's leg with his toes again. Stanford only put his hand on top of Ley's feet at that moment, pulling away when the rest started coming back and the next movie was started up.

Ley didn't try anything throughout the movie, as he managed to get engrossed in it, but Stanford seemed to grow bored halfway through towards the end. He got up and stretched out his back, Dipper pausing the movie as he noticed him.

"You alright, Stanford?" Everyone looked at him and Stanford only nodded, waving a hand at them.

"Yeah - I'm just going to grab a shower. I've seen this before anyway and I know how it ends."

"They have this movie in your dimension?"

"Yeah. The guy travels along the underground corridor some more before he's captured by the ghosts of the doctor there and lobotomized." Stan, Ford, and Mabel groaned as the ending was given away, Stan throwing a piece of popcorn at Stanford and making him laugh. "You still have to watch. And if you're going to stay up longer, play the sequel." Dipper nodded and Stanford made his way around the back of the couch to head towards the stairs, running his fingers through Ley's hair as the movie started up again and tugging hard. It took every ounce of control Ley had not to gasp to the touch, seeing his brother's glasses gleam in the light from the television before he let go and left. If that wasn't an obvious beckon for him, then he didn't know what was. Ley tried holding back for five minutes before he decided to get up as well.

"I'm gonna hit the sack early. We're going hiking tomorrow, right?" Ford looked towards him and nodded, Ley stretching himself some more. "Alright. See you guys in the morning." With that, Ley left everyone to the movie and made his way up the stairs, looking around once before running in and out of his room to get something and closing the door behind him. Quietly, he sneaked down the hall and to the bathroom, opening it and slipping in to see Stanford there, covered in only a towel but with an obvious erection. Somehow the towel managed to stay wrapped around his waist as the man moved forward, capturing Ley's face in his hands and kissing him. Ley's arms wrapped around Stanford's waist and he pulled him close, grinding up against him and moaning into the kiss as he started to get hard. Stanford pulled Ley's bun out and slipped the elastic around his wrist, only to entangle his fingers in Ley's hair and pull to get his head to tilt back. Once his neck was exposed, Stanford made quick work of kissing down it and dragging his teeth, being as careful as he could not to leave marks no matter how much he wanted to.

Ley dragged his nails down along Stanford's exposed sides and felt the man shiver beneath his touch, smirking into the kiss until hips pressed and thrust against his own. They stood there and ground against each other for a while, Stanford kissing and licking while Ley held back every moan he could and gripped onto his brother like he'd lost himself if he ever let go. It was a mystery if they had been standing there for only seconds or minutes, too caught up in the actions of the other to tell how long had passed. The only thing that broke them apart was a knock sounding at the bathroom door and Mabel's voice chiming in from the other side.

"Young grunkle Ford? Grunkle Ford wanted me to remind you we're going hiking tomorrow." Both Ley and Stanford stared at the door, Ley covering his mouth with his hand even as he tried to catch his breath. Stanford took a moment to compose himself before he spoke up.

"Alright. Thank you, Mabel." His voice was a bit strained as Ley pressed his hips forward and they ground against each other, his hand tightening in Ley's hair and forcing a whimper from the man's mouth.

"Are you alright in there?" Mabel spoke through the door again and Stanford covered the hand that was over Ley's mouth with one of his own before nodding to himself. "I'm just fine... just a bit tired."

"Okay.. Don't fall asleep in the shower." They stayed quiet until they heard her footsteps moving away, only to separate when they were sure she was gone. Stanford spun Ley around and pressed him against the sink so Ley was facing the mirror, grinding against the man's ass and making Ley moan as he rolled his hips back. Ley's hand was pulled away from covering his mouth as Stanford replaced it with his own, slipping two fingers past his lips and groaning as Ley sucked on them.

"No more interruptions..."

* * *

Mabel scratched the back of her head as she walked down the hall towards her bedroom, Dipper standing outside his and looking towards her as she came down. The confusion was evident on her features but it fell the closer she got to her bedroom.

"You reminded him of the hike?" Dipper asked as she turned towards her room, nodding and giving a yawn she couldn't be bothered to cover.

"Yeah. But he sounded a bit weird." Mabel looked at her brother and shrugged as she saw his brows furrow. Dipper stood straight up and uncrossed his arms over his chest, looking down the hall before back to her.

"You think something's wrong?" Once more she shrugged and rubbed at her eyes.

"He said he's just tired. I'm sure he's fine." With that last bit said, she waved to her brother and went into her room, closing the door behind her. Dipper was left standing there, looking down the hallway one more time before he decided to move.

* * *

Ley's shirt was hiked up over his chest as he was forced to bite down on it, keeping most of the sounds he made muffled under the sound of the shower spray. No one passing by should be able to hear them like that, which led Stanford to believe he could do just about anything at the moment. And since Ley had gotten a couple condoms and some lube from his room, they were good to go for whatever they desired. Ley's body jerked as Stanford thrust two fingers into him and spread them, moaning into the shirt and bending over the sink. Back in their dimension, living with each other, they didn't have to hold back from being with each other whenever they wanted. Sex was an almost daily occurrence for them so it was difficult to hold back when they needed to. The sexual tension that had built up over the week seemed almost too much for them now, unleashing it on each other without any holds barred.

Stanford's fingers crooked and Ley felt the man's erection grind against his ass, his hips rolling back into it as he muffled another moan. This was almost enough for him to make his knees weak, the sink providing enough support as he curled his fingers against the rim and his knuckles went white. Stanford's lips were working at the back of his neck and behind his ear, biting and licking along every weak spot he knew Ley had and driving him made with pleasure.

"Stanford... I'm ready... C'mon, fuck me." Ley moaned and ground back against his brother's hand and cock once more, his shirt falling as he spoke. Before he knew what was happening, the fingers inside of him crooked once more and an arm wrapped around his chest to force him to stand upright, the fingers pressing deeper as he rolled his hips back. A breathless moan shuddered past his lips as the wind seemed to knock itself out of his lungs, only to be followed by a whine as Stanford moved a hand to run along Ley's chest. His arm kept him upright while his fingers teased at one of his nipples, tweaking and rolling it between his fingers and making Ley whine once more.

"Say it right, Stanley..." Stanford's voice was nothing more than a growl as the sound carried into his ear, Ley's body tensing before his hips rolled and he moaned as a third finger pressed in. He was at his breaking point and he was not above begging anymore.

" _Please_ , Stanford... Please fuck me..." Ley's voice came out more as a whine, especially as Stanford pulled his hand back and left him feeling empty. One of the condoms was torn open and Ley only felt butterflies in his stomach in anticipation with what was to happen. His toes curled and he forced himself to relax, only for a moan to escape the moment Stanford's cock pressed into him and filled him. The noise he made earn him getting fingers stuck in his mouth again, Ley eagerly sucking on them and slipping his tongue between the fingers as Stanford started to thrust. After the foreplay and preparation they had, it was only a matter of time before Ley would come, his mind hazy as he watched Stanford in the mirror. His brother's eyes were closed as he pressed his face to his neck, an undeniably cute moment in the whirlwind that was their combined lust. Ley grinned around Stanford's fingers and sucked harder as he started to thrust faster, rolling his hips every so often and meeting the thrusts. There was slight movement in the mirror out of the corner of his eye but he didn't bother to take notice of it as Stanford kept up the pace. It wasn't until his gaze focused in the mirror that he froze, clenching tight around Stanford's cock as his gaze met another's being reflected. Ley's entire body tensed and he tried to pull his head back to get the fingers out of his mouth, only for Stanford to keep them in place and roll his hips harder. Ley couldn't stop the moan that wracked him. But what he could, and did, do was bite down on his brother's fingers to get his attention.

"Fuck - Stanley, what the... hell..." Stanford's gaze picked up and now they both of them were looking to the man behind them.

Dipper.

Dipper was standing there in his night clothes, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped as he looked to Stanford and Ley at the sink. As much as they wanted to pull away from each other as if that would make him forget what he had seen, it was in their best interest to keep their backs turned to him. Well, Ley's back. Stanford pulled his hands away and turned to make direct eye contact with Dipper, the movement startling the boy and making him grab for the handle, his face a deep red as his gaze dropped somewhere else.

"Dipper - you can't tell anyone. I'd say this isn't what it looks like, but I'd be lying. You can't tell anyone, please." How Stanford was able to compose himself like that was beyond Ley, the man doubled over the sink to hide his face in embarrassment. Dipper didn't make eye contact as he nodded his head, his hands gripping the doorknob as tightly as he could.

"I won't... I promise." That was all he said before he closed the door, the sound of feet padding against the floor to the opposite end of the hall being heard under the shower spray. Stanford and Ley stood there, with Stanford still inside him, and they took a deep breath.

"I think we're going to have to explain to him and leave..." Stanford's voice was still steady as he turned back towards Ley, Ley's face still hidden in his hands as he tried to get over the mortification and the embarrassment. Stanford leaned down and pressed a kiss to Ley's shoulder, finally getting the man to look back to him.

"We'll talk to him tomorrow on the hike... see how things go before we decide to leave." Stanford nodded to that idea and kissed Ley's shoulder again, resting against his back as his arms wrapped around the man's waist.

"Do you want to stop here for tonight?" Ley looked back as his brother said that before covering his face with one of his hands. It seemed like he wanted to stop so Stanford started to pull back, only for the other's hips to roll back so he could thrust in again. A smirk started to curl to Stanford's lips and Ley turned to look over his shoulder and smile at him.

"Let's finish off..."

* * *

Dipper didn't get any sleep that night.


	8. Whispers in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's always more to the woods than what meets the eye.

It took a while for everyone to be gathered in the foyer to go on the hike, three people there since seven in the morning and the other three coming down between seven thirty and eight. Stanford, Ford, and Ley were the ones waiting around for the others, followed by Mabel who came down after she had stuffed her bag filled with everything she thought she needed. Stan was the next one to come down after ten minutes of loafing about, and Dipper was the last. It was obvious to everyone there that he hadn't slept very much, his focus seeming blurred and unsteady on top of the dark bags he wore under his eyes. He dragged his feet along and didn't bother with a hat, carrying with him a large thermos filled with coffee so he could stay awake.

"Are you sure you want to come with us, Dipper?" Ford asked as he placed a hand on the other's shoulder, Stanford and Ley feeling a slight guilt eat away at them because they had caused it. Dipper nodded his head in response to his Grunkle's question and yawned.

"I'm sure... I'll wake up the more I walk." He smiled up to Ford and the man smiled back before they left the mansion and made their way to the car. Fiddleford was the only one not coming along as he finished up his latest patent, the six of them climbing into the car and taking their seats as they had every time they went somewhere together. Ford driving, Dipper in the middle, and Stanford in the passenger with Ley, Mabel, and Stan in the back. Dipper seemed too tired to be awkward this close to them as they drove off towards the Mystery Shack, the boy falling asleep for the entire ride.

There was only a little bit of talking as they kept it hushed so he could sleep, Stanford and Ley glancing at each other before to Dipper, then turning their gazes away. So far Dipper hadn't said anything but he wasn't exactly given the chance to say it with how tired he was. All they could do was hope for a decent conversation he would remember instead of going in one ear and out the other of his sleep deprived mind.

When they got to the shack and parked, Dipper was still fast asleep. They were hesitant to wake him up and make him hike but before one of them could grab him and carry him to the shack, Dipper stirred and rubbed at his eyes. Everyone got their bags and started walking into the forest, Ford and Mabel leading the trail with Stan and Ley behind them. Stanford made sure to linger back with Dipper so he could talk to him out of earshot from the other's. They walked for a while in silence, Ford talking to Ley about everything they had found in the area while Stanford tried to figure out how to word what he wanted to say. He didn't have to say anything for Dipper to know why he was back there, however, Dipper rubbing at his eyes and sighing before looking to Stanford.

"You don't have to worry about me telling anyone... I don't understand why you do it - I'd never look at Mabel like that... but it's your thing. And I'm guessing it's worked for you for a while.." Stanford was taken aback slightly not only at the bluntness of Dipper's words but at how accepting he was of the situation. He pressed his lips together slightly before letting a sigh out through his nostrils.

"I expected you to think it's sick and disgusting. Honestly, Stanley and I planned to pack up and leave if wanted us to." Dipper shook his head and looked forward, taking a big sip from his thermos to try and wake him up some more.

"It's been fun having you guys around. As long as I'm the only one to know and the last one to ever walk in on you guys, then there shouldn't be a problem." Dipper said it matter-of-factly as if he wanted the conversation to end there and Stanford got the hint. He nodded and squeezed Dipper's shoulder gently.

"Thank you." And without any hesitation, he walked faster so he could catch up with Ford, Mabel, and Stan, wanting to see if there were any wonders of the forest that he had missed during his year in Gravity Falls. Ley watched as his brother sped ahead and decided to drop back himself to Dipper, looking to him and trying to offer a smile as he looked back.

"That was fast." Dipper sighed and rubbed a hand along his face again before nodding.

"He just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to tell or kick you guys out of this dimension. I told him he had nothing to worry about and that satisfied him." Ley nodded his head and looked forward to his brother, his hand shoving in his coat pockets as they walked beside each other.

"He likes to get right down to business... I can't blame him, but sometimes he forgets that he needs to have tact when he speaks."

"How does one have tact when talking about finding two brothers screwing each other in a bathroom?" Dipper's remark was instant and Ley took a moment to think about it before shaking his head and laughing.

"One doesn't, I guess." The two of them sighed at the same time, looking to each other once more before Ley held out his hand. As if he understood the gesture completely, Dipper handed over the thermos and let him take a swig from it. "Gotta not put too much sugar in that. It makes it taste good, but it'll be bad for you later." Dipper laughed and took the thermos back as it was handed to him, drinking some more.

"You're not the first person to tell me that." They chuckled together and looked around the woods, an almost comfortable silence settling between them as they listened to the four people ahead talking amongst themselves about the gnomes and the fairies. After a few moments, Dipper decided to ask one of the questions that plagued him the night before. "How long have you two been together?" Ley wasn't sure if he was surprised at the question, glancing to Dipper out of his peripheral before looking forward ahead again.

"Honestly? We started when we were fourteen. It started out as curiosity in each other's bodies and grew over the years. Of course it stopped after I was kicked out of the house and we didn't do anything while I was in rehab and Ford was traveling all over the world. But when he came back and we started living together... things just happened. Since then, we've neither wanted nor needed anyone else." Ley looked back to Dipper to see the man staring at him, the tips of his ears burning before their gazes broke and they looked back ahead of themselves.

"Sounds like something close most people aim for..." Thinking of how nice a way that was to put it, Ley smiled and rubbed at the back of his neck.

"That's probably the nicest thing we'll ever get about our relationship." There were times when Ley had thought it was more of an intense codependency than a relationship, but he knew things were different every time he looked at his brother. They weren't just brothers and that meant more to him than anything else in the world. Things were silent for another moment before Dipper piped up again.

"Did you always know you like men, or is it just Stanford?" That was something that Ley had asked himself on numerous occasions but the answers were always the same every time.

"I used to think I just like Stanford, and whenever I'd look at another guy and find him sexually attractive, I'd feel extremely guilty afterwards. But I eventually came to terms that I'm attracted to both men and women. Stanford just helped me realize the men aspect." Dipper nodded and once more, there was silence. There didn't seem like there was anything else for either of them to say to the other, though there were questions abound. They caught up some with the other's and talked with them for a little while, only for Dipper and Ley to fall back again in a comfortable silence. It was only a matter of time before they would get to the clearing they were planning to rest at, though Dipper ended up speaking again before then.

"Hey, Ley..." His voice was soft and his gaze was averted as he spoke, Ley raising a brow as he looked to him before nudging Dipper's arm with his elbow.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a favor..?"

"Sure." Dipper's pace started to slow and Ley followed with him, putting more distance between the others and themselves before Dipper found the courage to speak up again.

"Can I kiss you...?" Ley almost stopped in his tracks as Dipper asked, almost tripping over his own feet as it was due to the surprise from the question. He stared at Dipper for a moment and wondered what would have brought that on, trying to fit the pieces together in his mind but failing to find a reasonable explanation. Ley swallowed a bit roughly before looking straight ahead when he realized Dipper wasn't going to look at him.

"Can you tell me why you want to?" Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Dipper's cheeks growing red and his shoulder shrug in response to the question.

"I've been... trying to come to terms with my own sexuality. I think I like men but I've never gotten the chance to be with one. I'd be accepted, but I'm too awkward to really do anything." The only one who knew that wasn't the real reason he wanted a kiss was Dipper and he was planning to keep his mouth shut about that for as long as he could. But Ley seemed to buy the lie so far so he continued. "You and Stanford are compatible with each other and I thought maybe you'd be open to help me figure things out. I'd like to do it with someone I know instead of some stranger." Ley was quiet as they walked through the trees, staring ahead blankly and suddenly the silence seemed too uncomfortable for Dipper to bear it any longer. He was about to open his mouth to say Ley could forget it, but the man beat him to speaking out.

"You sure you want it to be me?" Dipper was stunned silent for a moment as Ley answered him before nodding his head and stuffing his hands into his own coat pocket.

"I'm sure." Dipper didn't expect the whistle to leave Ley as he caught the attention of everyone ahead, waving at them before calling out.

"I dropped my water bottle a little ways back and Dipper's going to help me find it! You guys head to the clearing first." Once Ford shouted back a confirmation and they kept going, Ley turned around and Dipper followed him. They didn't walk for that long until they stepped behind a tree, looking at each other with their hands in their pockets. Dipper seemed nervous and couldn't meet Ley's gaze even after a few moments of them standing there. "You sure you want to do this?" That finally got Dipper to look at him, and the determination in his eyes was something that reminded Ley of how Stanford used to look at him when they were younger. Every time he'd ask his brother if he wanted to keep going, he'd get that same look. That was what Ley told himself made this as easy as it was.

Seeing as Dipper wasn't about to move, Ley took one of his hands out of his pocket and cupped the taller boy's cheek, feeling Dipper's hands as they rested on his hips and clung to his coat. They didn't wait any longer as Dipper leaned down and the kissed, soft and chaste with their noses brushing together gently. It held for a while and Ley almost smiled to the way Dipper's arms wrapped around his waist, the two of them looking to each other when the kiss finally broke. Their foreheads rested against each other and the smile that spread to Dipper's lips made a warmth spread through Ley's chest. There was an innocence in this that did something to him and Dipper seemed happy to have done it. One more kiss was had before they pulled away from each other. Ley fixed his coat and Dipper rubbed his face with his hands to get the blush to fade, the two of them walking around the tree so they could catch up to the others.

"Can you promise not to tell Ford about this...?" Dipper asked and Ley looked to him, fighting an internal battle before nodding his head.

"I promise..."

* * *

_"You did what?"_  Even though Ley had promised not to tell his brother anything, when they got back from the hike, the guilt started to eat at him. He didn't want to betray Dipper's trust but he had betrayed Stanford just by doing so. One outweighed the other, and when they had gotten a chance to talk alone in one of their rooms, he spilled the beans. Ley was sitting on the bed as Stanford seemed to fume in front of him, the man scrubbing his fingers through his hair as he paced back and forth. "How could you do that?! Not only is he almost half your age, he's from another dimension, and you're already with me. He knows that, too!" Ley tried to keep eye contact with his brother, but every time Stanford turned a glaring eye to him, he couldn't help recoil a little. He may be stronger than Stanford, he may weigh more than him, but when Stanford was angry, he was a force to be reckoned with. Which was why Ley was keeping himself calm as he explained.

"I know, Ford... But he just wants to figure out his own sexuality... remember what I was like when I had trouble accepting I'm attracted to other men?" Stanford shot another glare at him and Ley flinched, only to shake his head. "He gave me this look that you used to as well... I couldn't say no to him."

"Oh, you _couldn't_ say no to him? So you wouldn't say no to anyone else if they looked at you the exact same way?" That touched a nerve inside of Ley and he got up, shoving at Stanford to get him to stop pacing.

"Don't be a fucking asshole. He's just a kid and I didn't see any harm in helping him out." Stanford looked like he was about to tear him a new one when Ley pulled him close and wrapped his arms around his waist. His head rested on his brother's shoulder and he squeezed him. "Besides.. you're all I want. I've loved you for more than half of my life... There's nothing in this dimension or the next that'll take me away from you." Stanford seemed to calm down at that and Ley felt arms wrap loosely around him, glad that his trump card, though a truthful trump, worked for him even now. He could hear Stanford breathing more regularly and they rested their heads against each other.

"I'm sorry, Stanley... sometimes I worry." So did he. But that was a talk for another time when they were both emotionally stable enough to lay their cards out on the table. Ley pressed a kiss to the crook of Stanford's neck before pressing another one to his cheek.

"I love you, Stanford."

"I love you too, Stanley... Promise me you won't do anything with Dipper again."

"I promise."


	9. Take a Deep Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few days after the hike, everyone decides to take a trip out to Gravity Falls Lake. Stanford and Ford want to look for the real lake monster and, seeing as it's before fishing season starts, they're allowed to swim without worrying about being caught on any lines. Dipper tries to learn to free dive and Mabel, Stan, and Ley cause a little bit of mayhem on the beach. What could go wrong?

"How do you bring a pump to the beach and not know how to use it quickly? C'mon just - that's it. Fill it up a bit more and tie it off. There we go. Now hand it over."

"For those of you now tuning in to listen to this horribly sexual verbal stream of consciousness, Stan the man is getting ready for the fight of his life. This is May-May and the Hog-"

"Son of a bitch, Mabel, get Waddles to stop licking off sunscreen!"

Fighting and nonsensical conversations were all that could be heard up and down the beach, as Ley, Mabel, and Stan sat there and went about their business. Mabel was in charge of filling up some of the many water balloons they had brought, Ley trying to dictate how to make the perfect one while Waddles was trying to climb onto Stan and lick off any sunscreen he applied, all four hundred and thirty pounds of the animal. Compared to the three men that were on the docks near them and getting ready to set off into the middle of the lake, they were materialized chaos while Stanford, Ford, and Dipper were order.

The three men on the dock watched as the show that was being put on regardless if they had an audience or not, all three of them feeling some amount of embarrassment for their twins. After it seemed like things were settling down once Waddles was sat to the side and stopped climbing on Stan, Dipper and Stanford turned back to the rowboat Ford was in and finished putting the last pieces of equipment on.

"So you know how to free dive?" Ford looked to Stanford and the man nodded, standing up straight and stretching himself out before sitting down on one side of the boat.

"I learned while I was traveling the world and I've been practicing since. It helps when you don't have scuba gear and you don't like snorkeling." Dipper got in and sat somewhere in the middle of the rowboat, both he and Stanford dressed in only Speedo athletic trunks in preparation to dive. Though Stanford seemed comfortable wearing so little, Dipper couldn't help curl into himself as if that would help him hide. There was no one around to watch save for the three stooges on the beach and a few more people down further along the sand but that didn't make him feel any better. Stanford was trying his best to get him to relax. "If you learn how to free dive, there's so much more you can see without having to worry about equipment. Of course, you need to worry about lactic acid buildup if you hold your breath for too long, but that's why you should never do it without someone with you or more than your body can handle. Know your limits and don't push yourself."

"You know, this is actually making me more nervous about getting in the water with you." Dipper looked to Stanford and the man smiled, only to turn his head and look over his shoulder as there was a whistle from the end of the docks. Ley and Mabel were standing there with a few water balloons in each of their hands, chucking them at boat and managing to hit both Ford and Stanford in the back, chest, and face. Dipper got off fairly easy, seeing as he was sitting at the bottom of the boat between them. He laughed at the matching disgruntled looks on both Stanford's and Ford's faces as they wiped themselves dry.

"You're going to pay for this, later, you know that?" Stanford called out and Ley laughed before he and Mabel walked off the docks and went back to the part of the beach where Stan was. "He used to throw water balloons at me all the time during the summer until I started retaliating. I would make some and put them in the freezer for a couple minutes so they would be ice cold. But I left one in too long and part of it turned to ice. I think he should start to expect that to happen again." Ford actually chuckled at the thought of that and they pushed away from the dock, slowly making their way out to the middle of the lake as they rowed.

"How long did you say you could hold your breath?" Dipper looked to Stanford as the man rowed part of the way, pausing in his actions as he thought and continuing onward when he came up with the answer.

"I think the longest I've held it so far is six minutes..."

"Yeah, I'm not doing that."

"I don't expect you to. That took years of practice for me to be comfortable with it. Just try your hardest." Stanford watched as Ford guided them to where the monster had been spotted a few times before, making him stop the boat when they reached one of the deepest recesses of the lake.

"Alright, this should be good. I can't guarantee if there is anything down there, but you'll have this if there is." Ford handed over a small harpoon gun to Stanford, tapping on the harpoon itself to show there were openings in the spear. "It's got enough tranquilizer in it to take down a few full grown elephants. At the very least, it should be able to slow it down. At the most, it'll stop it in its tracks... I can't say for certain." And Dipper was feeling worse about going in the water now. But Stanford nodded and put on his goggles, slipping into the water and setting the watch he had to time for six minutes once he it was submerged.

"Are you coming in, Dipper?" Dipper could only stare at the two of them before deciding to join Stanford in the water, the freezing cold knocking the air out of his lungs and making him want to climb back in the boat. Ford dug under some of the life vests he had and procured a pair of flippers for the both of them to put on.

"This should make swimming easier." Stanford and Dipper took them and slipped them on their feet, then nodding to each other before taking a breath and submerging themselves completely. Stanford was the first to start swimming downwards, Dipper following him as quickly as he could and looking around. On his own, he would have never even though to go into the lake. But now that he was underwater, he was seeing all kinds of marine life he would never have even thought about being there. All different kinds of fish swimming in schools, different color kelps and weeds the closer he got towards the bottom. The lake didn't seem as deep as it was until he decided to look up to the surface, finding there was more room between him and the top than he thought. His lungs started burning at that moment and he swam up as quickly as he could, gasping for air when he broke through and clinging onto the side of the boat.

"Great uncle Ford..." Dipper spoke once he caught his breath, grinning to his uncle and laughing. "It's-... it's-"

"Amazing, isn't it? I tried scuba diving down there a couple times and it's beautiful."

"But you could never find signs of the lake monster?"

"I could, but they were inconclusive. I don't expect us to find anything now, but it's worth the trip, isn't it?" Stanford surfaced after a minute longer, Dipper still in the water and clinging to the boat instead of trying to get in. He slowly breathed in so the blood wouldn't rush to his head once his heart started pumping harder, trying to find a good pace as he hoisted himself into the boat and fell onto the bottom. Once he was on his back and his heart was beating close to normal, he started taking deeper breaths.

"It's been too long since I last did that." Stanford looked at his watch and noticed he'd only been in for four minutes, taking in another deep breath before laughing. "Sure is a view down there."

"That's what I was just telling Dipper. You'd never expect it here." Stanford had to take a few more breaths before he was able to sit up, looking to Dipper who still remained in the water.

"Are you going to hop in? We're going to Scuttlebutt island next." Dipper looked towards the shore before back to the two Ford's shaking his head in response.

"I think I'm going to swim back." Ford and Stanford's brows furrowed and they looked at each other.

"Are you sure? It's quite a distance - we can row you back."

"The flippers will make it easier. I think I'll be fine." Dipper pushed off with that said and started his way back towards the shore, feeling good and confident after having dived with Stanford.

* * *

"I... am such... an idiot...!"

"Y'know, my thoughts exactly." Dipper had exhausted himself fifty feet away from the shore and ten from the docks, Ley swimming out to meet him and help him back to the sand. He pulled off Dipper's flippers and tossed them to the side, getting him to sit down on the docks as his whole body seemed to shake.

"I thought I could handle it..."

"You were a couple hundred feet out and you just went free diving with my brother. I'm surprised you made it as far as you did." Ley laughed and Dipper huffed out a small laugh, bringing a trembling hand up to rub at his face before he looked around.

"Where's Stan and Mabel?"

"They went to the snack hut to get some ice cream while you were busy drowning. You owe me for missing out." Dipper waved a hand at him and gave another huff of a laugh, still gasping to try and catch his breath after all the swimming he did. "I think you're done playing in the water for today." Once more Dipper waved his hand before lying back on the docks and staring up at the sky. He took a minute before he was able to stop gasping, kicking his legs to make sure he still had feeling in them and they hadn't shaken off his body. At that thought, Dipper started laughing to himself, causing Ley to look at him like he was going mad before joining in on the joke he didn't get. Their laughs were cut off as someone walked down the docks and stopped right near Dipper.

"Hey, man." Dipper looked up to the red haired girl that stood above him and snapped right up to attention.

"Wendy!" He scrambled to try and get on his feet, almost falling over as they still shook some and rubbing at the back of his neck once he was steady. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm staying in town for a little with my girlfriend. She wanted to spend a couple weeks here to see how I lived in the ass end of Oregon." Wendy laughed and Dipper joined in a moment afterwards, Ley sitting there at the edge of the dock and looking between them. Wendy's gaze turned away from Dipper to him and nodded in his direction. "Who's this?"

"Oh - he's..." Dipper wasn't fast enough to come up with an answer before Ley stood up and introduced himself.

"Ley Pines. Distant cousin of Dipper and Mabel." He held out his hand and got a firm shake in response, only for it to be turned over as she stared at the missing pinky finger.

"Whoa - dude. How'd that happen?"

"Got it bitten off by an monkfish. Nasty fuckers but I had the last laugh by the end of it." Wendy laughed with him and let go of his hand once she got a good enough look at it.

"Pretty cool." A girl called Wendy's name down the beach and Wendy turned to look at her, waving before turning back to Ley and Dipper. "Gotta go. Can't keep Summer waiting. Talk to you later, Dipper. Nice to meet you, Ley." She waved at them as she walked off the docks and towards her girlfriend, Dipper and Ley waving back to her until she was turned around. Taking a glance at Dipper, his expression seemed to fall as he watched Wendy walking away, only for him to shake his head after a couple seconds and look at Ley.

"Do you want to take a walk?" Ley didn't hesitate as he nodded and they got off the docks, Dipper stumbling once he got on the sand before he found his footing. They started walking down along the beach, kicking sand every so often and keeping quiet. There wasn't anything for Ley to say and he figured if Dipper wanted to talk, then he would at least let him know. So they stayed silent until they got to some boulders where the sand started to disappear into the water and the beach ended. Ley climbed up on one of the smaller ones and sat on top of it, Dipper joining and sitting next to him. Ley's gaze was out on the water as Dipper's moved around, checking to see if there was anyone that could see them. When the coast seemed clear, he turned towards the man he was sitting with. "Ley..?" Ley turned his head to ask what it was, the question being muted with a kiss, his head being held in place with one of Dipper's hands cupping his cheek. Whatever part of Ley that wanted to kiss back was fought and he broke away from it, glaring at Dipper and taking the hand off of his face.

"What the hell?" Dipper's expression pinched as Ley reacted poorly, though it was justified with due to the surprise and the knowledge Dipper had about his life. He brought his legs up and wrapped his arms around them, his forehead resting on his knees. Ley watched as he curled into himself and sighed, placing a hand on Dipper's shoulder. "I'm guessing you used to like that Wendy chick?" The only confirmation Ley got was a nod of the head from Dipper, his arm tightening slightly around his legs. Ley sighed and squeezed his shoulder before letting go. "That's no excuse to kiss me. Just because you've got lingering feelings doesn't mean I'm an emotional punching bag."

"I didn't kiss you because I still like her." Dipper's voice was muffled but the words were clear enough for Ley to hear them, his brows furrowing as he looked to the other.

"Beg your pardon?" Ley watched as Dipper tensed before the man sighed, picking his head up from his legs and looking out onto the lake.

"I think I like you..."

"Still doesn't give you the right to do that." Dipper looked at Ley and sighed, nodding his head and rubbing a hand along his face.

"I know. I'm sorry..." The apology was sincere enough and Ley let the incident drop, patting Dipper's shoulder once more before he got off the rock. He hated to admit there was something about the kid that made him want to stick around, to give him what he wanted. Maybe it was the likeness he had to Stanford when he was young. Maybe it was something else. He didn't want to think about the latter too much.

"Come on. Stan and Mabel should be back from the snack hut and you still owe me some ice cream." Ley extended a hand to help him off the rock and Dipper looked down to him, the two of them smiling before the younger slid off and had to be caught before he toppled over. Once Dipper was walking fine, they started making their way back to where the rest where.

"You weren't surprised about me liking you."

"Of course not. Who asks someone they know to kiss them to figure out their sexuality if they don't like them? But your acting is good. Make it more believable next time."


	10. There and Back Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ley and Stanford had to go back to their dimension at the end of the second week. Stanford had journals he needed to peer review and Ley needed to start training again for his next fight. Things went back to normal for most of the summer for Dipper, Mabel, Stan, and Ford. But towards the last few weeks, things changed again.

Being less than a month away from their eighteenth birthday, one would think that Dipper and Mabel would be planning out every aspect of their party and figuring out what they wanted to do and who they wanted to invite. But things had slowed down as the summer drew on, the twins loafing about in the mansion when they weren't working at the Mystery Shack. They could have gone through the woods or found something to entertain themselves, but other than watching movies and making fun of how horrible the monsters were, they were out of ideas. Even Stan had resigned to the fact that the mansion, as luxurious as it was, was boring as all get out. Dipper would have joined Ford down in the lab if he wasn't doing something with Fiddleford. The last time he tried to help them, he ended up sitting out of it for the most part.

Mabel took out a small water balloon and blew it up with air, tying it and throwing it up as she laid across the couch. The pink balloon fell and she grabbed it, trying to toss it to Dipper who was sitting across one of the chairs, his legs dangling off the arm as he gave up finding a comfortable spot to lie in. This was as interesting as it was going to get. He watched the balloon as it floated to the ground and moved with the slight draft, the two of them groaning out of boredom as Stan walked into the room.

"What are you two doing?" They groaned once more in response and Stan shrugged his shoulders, sitting down in the free chair and leaning back as he drank a Pitt cola. A knock sounded at the door and all three of them groaned, throwing up their hands in a game of rock-paper-scissor to see who would go get it. Dipper and Stan both had paper while Mabel had rock, her giving the loudest groan of the day before she righted herself up and moved past Stan. "Here. If it's Northwest threatening to get his mansion back, just throw it at his head." Stand handed the mostly empty can of cola to Mabel and she took it.

"You mean in his face." Dipper looked over to Stan and the older man shrugged his shoulders.

"I meant what I said."

"'And I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one hundred percent.'" Mabel laughed as she recited the Dr. Seuss line, getting a strange look from Stan before he groaned.

"Sometimes I just don't get you, kid." Mabel grinned and made her way over to the door, setting aside the can of cola as she had no intention to throw it in Preston's face if he was behind the door. The last time she did that, Pacifica was made at her for a week. And they had just gotten on good terms again too. Her expression seemed exhausted as she opened the door to ask who it was, only to snap wide awake as she looked to the man standing there, letting out a shrill scream that had Dipper and Stan jumping up to their feet and running in. Instead of seeing Mabel in trouble, however, they saw her clinging to Stanford as he stood just outside the doorway.

"Young Grunkle Ford!" She had her legs almost picked up as she clung to him, Stanford having to carry her in a few feet so he could set his bags down inside.

"Good to see you too, Mabel." She finally let go after a moment and bounced on the balls of her feet, heading towards the door to look for Ley as well. "Good to see you two as well. Dipper. Stan." Stan nodded his head in recognition and stepped forward to shake his hand. Once it was shook, he stepped back, Dipper walking up and shaking Stanford's hand as well.

"Good to see you too, Stanford. I almost thought you guys weren't coming back."

"We had to stay for longer. Stanley... well, you'll see." Just as Stanford spoke, Mabel was bounding right back in with the rest of the bags, letting Ley get off easy as he walked in and closed the door behind him. Both Dipper and Stan winced at they saw the state his face was in, bruised and beaten with some wounds that had to be stitched and butterfly bandages on those that weren't. Other than that, he held in his hand a belt that he held up once stopped in the middle of the foyer.

"World _fucking_ champion." That earned a grin and a laugh from Stan as the man walked forward, taking the belt from Ley's hand to see the quality and weight of it.

"Isn't that amazing?" Stan punched Ley's arm lightly and he winced, rubbing at one of the bruises he had gained during the fight.

"Easy on me. The fight was last night and it'll take me a little while to heal." Mabel was still bouncing around and grabbing as many bags as she could carry, running up the stairs to take them to the rooms Stanford and Ley had stayed in the last time they were there. They'd have to thank her when she came down and calmed down. The only bag Stanford was left with was a briefcase with some of his files and journals in it, his gaze moving about the room before landing on Dipper.

"Where's Ford?"

"Down in the lab with Fiddleford. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you." Stanford nodded and went off to go down there, Mabel running down the stairs and jumping the last few before running over to Ley. She stopped a few feet in front of him instead of clinging to him as she did to Stanford, knowing that he was hurt from the way she had jumped on him while he was still at the car.

"You guys wanna see the fight...?" The question was directed mostly at Mabel and Stan, but he nodded to Dipper as well, the three of them nodding.

"Definitely. I wanna see how big the guy is that kicked your ass this bad."

"I kicked his ass worse." The four of them left the foyer and sat in the living room on the couch, Ley pulling up a video on his phone and handing it over for Mabel and Stan to hold and watch. "It's thirteen minutes long, but it's one hell of a ride the entire time. Save for the breaks." Ley played the video for them before going around the couch and into the kitchen to get himself a drink. He looked towards Dipper and nodded his head in the direction he was going, the two of them walking into the kitchen with a bit of distance between them. Ley got himself a glass of water and set it aside after he drank half, resting his back against the fridge as he crossed his arms over his chest. "How've you been doing?" Dipper's gaze averted and he rubbed the back of his neck before shrugging a shoulder.

"Good. It's been boring here... Our birthday's coming up, but we can't bother thinking of planning it three weeks out." Ley nodded to the sentiment and took a deep breath in before sighing.

"Have you gone out with anyone?" Dipper's back tensed to the question and he looked to Ley for a second, nodding his head only to shake it right after.

"I did... a couple dates with one guy. Mabel was ecstatic to not be the only not straight twin. But the dates didn't go that well. We stopped after the third and I haven't heard from him since." Before Ley had left, Dipper had promised to try and move on and get out there in the dating pool, but that was something more easily said than done in his case.

"At least you tried. And you can keep trying, too." Dipper nodded his head, glancing at Ley and averting his gaze as he had before.

"I still like you."

"I'm not surprised." The quick response was something Dipper had come to expect from Ley so he wasn't taken aback, though he had the urge to test the waters to see how Ley was feeling. He took a few steps closer to him and Ley stayed right where he was, Dipper unsure how to take it but keeping the close distance regardless of what it meant.

"Are you fine with being around me?"

"I am." Dipper managed to make eye contact with Ley this time and hold it for more than a few seconds, though as he did so, he found himself leaning in and pressing a kiss to Ley's lips. There was no resistance to the contact, no hands at his chest pushing him away or a fist to the stomach to turn him down harshly. Both were something that he expected. Not the way Ley kissed him back for a moment before he moved his head to break the kiss. A warmth spread through Dipper's chest and he rested their foreheads against each other, keeping his eyes closed as he focused on the way their noses brushed together just slightly. Even though Dipper had kissed the man he dated a couple times, it didn't feel as right as this did. And even though he knew that Ley was with Stanford, he still found himself craving even this simple touch. Why Ley was letting him have it was unbeknownst to him, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"How long are you going to be staying...?" Dipper's voice was hushed as he spoke, pulling back from Ley and opening his eyes so he could look at him. Ley shrugged and fixed one of the butterfly bandages that started to slip on his cheek.

"At least until your guys' birthday. Plenty of time for me to throw you out there into the shark pit of the dating pool." Ley smiled and Dipper tried to smile back to him, though the expression was lacking a genuine touch and he let it slip a moment later. Ley's own slipped and he sighed, drinking the rest of his water before going to put the glass into the dishwasher. "Look... I don't want to lead you on. I'm with Stanford and we're from separate dimensions. Even if I was single, it wouldn't work out." There was a decent amount of guilt that ate away at him for just thinking 'if' he was single, no matter how much he knew he loved Stanford. There was something there for Dipper but he couldn't think about it. He didn't want to think about it.

"I know... but can you just... indulge me until you have to leave? I promise I will give you up for good, but having you around... I don't know how much I can fake it." Dipper's voice sounded somewhat strained as he spoke and Ley turned to see that he wasn't sure what to do. Against every bone in his body, against his mind that told him it would hurt Stanford if he found out, Ley found himself wanting to help Dipper as much as he could. Stepping forward, he cupped the taller man's cheek and tilted his head so they could look at each other, not wanting Dipper to turn away from him.

"I can't promise anything..." Dipper's head leaned into the touch and Ley held it there before pulling away from him. "And you can't search me out every time you want something. We're not making a habit out of it because it won't last, alright?"

"Alright..." Before anything else could be said, Mabel and Stan were calling to Ley to talk about the fight once the video had stopped. Ley walked past Dipper and patted his arm before he left the kitchen. Where the warmth had been in Dipper's chest was now a constricting pain. He promised to himself that he would fight any feelings he had for Ley as long as he could. But promises were made to be broken.


	11. Pleading Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper promised not to let his feelings get the best of him. Ley tried as hard as he could not to indulge Dipper too much or make a habit of what they did. Neither of them tried as hard as they should have.

The two weeks following Stanford's and Ley's return had gone as well as the first two weeks they had stayed in that dimension, though they took the time to slow their pace down instead of running about and fitting together whatever research Stanford did with the discoveries that Ford had made over him. Dipper and Mabel worked at the Shack and Ley went with them to hang out as there was nothing else he could really do in the mansion other than lie around or sleep. Even if he wanted to help his brother and Ford with their experiments, he would have been no use to them as anything other than a simple mechanic.

But the family still trained together and went to the beach a couple more times, hiking through the woods once more to see the fairies they hadn't gotten to see the last time. Mabel grew closer to Stanford the more they spun together in his free time, leaving Ley to hang out with Dipper and wander about the town or in the woods. They had gotten more time together, and though they grew closer as friends, they were unable to keep the promises they made to themselves.

Unlike the week that Stanford and Ley first suffered through with building sexual tension, they had calmed down some over the month and a half they had been gone and could spend more time apart from each other without attacking each other once they were alone. The buildup was still there, but it was a bit slower. And Ley had something that was helping him curb it as well.

Every time Dipper and Ley were alone together, something happened between them. At first it was just gentle touches, resting against each other or holding each other. Dipper didn't try to ask for more and Ley found himself wanting to give it to him. But as the days passed, more did come. Dipper would kiss him and Ley wouldn't respond at first. The first few times the kisses had come, they stopped when Ley didn't react and they went back to sitting together and talking about whatever came to mind. However, Ley found himself eventually leaning into the kisses and wrapping his arms back around Dipper to hold him close. This soft, innocent touch was something he didn't have very much when he was with Stanford, the two of them either ripping each other's clothes off or working on something on their own. Before they would go to bed in their home dimension, things would get nice and comfortable. But Ley was always the last to fall asleep and he let himself get too lost in his own thoughts to be able to relax.

With Dipper like this, he didn't have to think. Things just happened and all Ley did was focus on the moment that was at hand. It was a comfort to him to just take this time, as much as he and his brother enjoyed the faster pace.

They made a habit of doing this with each other. And the more time Stanford spent in the lab or with Mabel, the more time Dipper spent with Ley.

During the weeks, Stanford and Ley still met with each other when it was around the time they went to bed, Stanford leaving the lab earlier just to spend time with his brother. They would kiss and grind, have sex and hold each other afterwards until they eventually had to part. But those moments reminded Ley not only how much he loved his brother, but how much it would hurt Stanford if he ever found out what he'd been doing with Dipper. Those nights would be the ones where Ley wouldn't sleep well. His stomach would turn over as he reminded himself how much he was betraying Stanford, the queasiness still with him in the morning. When Dipper touched him after one of those nights, his anxiety would spike before settling down, all thoughts shutting off as he lost himself to the kisses and the touches. Dipper really did remind him of how Stanford used to be before their lives and relationship were ruined with that damned science fair. How gentle his brother was and how much Stanford almost clung to him as the only good source of positive interaction. Stanford needed him as much as Ley needed Stanford, both then and still now. It was something he wanted to return to, something he felt he could only go back to with Dipper. That sheer desire to be needed instead of just wanted was magnetic.

As time grew closer to Dipper and Mabel's birthday, the twins started hanging out more and plans got busy for them while Ley and Stanford were still left to do their own things. Stanford kept helping Fiddleford and Ford with their experiments and devices while Ley was left to himself, spending most of his time now with Stan and going about the town when they had nothing better to do. Though they didn't have much to talk about, the company was fairly pleasant. Ley avoided ripping on Stan for letting himself go and Stan didn't punch him where the worst of his bruises were still healing.

Five days before the twins birthday, though, and he was lonely. Not that he wasn't used to it to some extent. Back in their home dimension, when Stanford would have a big project, he would hole himself up in his lab with Fiddleford and work night and day. Ley would visit him every so often but he always seemed in the way when he did and avoided bothering his brother during those times. Going to bed without someone next to him did nothing to help the thoughts his mind enjoyed entertaining just to torture him. Ley had gotten used to sleeping alone since they got to this dimension, but after a day of being by himself was not only boring but miserable. And he didn't want to bother Stanford and if he went to Dipper, it would change what they were doing into something more than what Ley made it for himself.

Lying down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling, he went over his last fight in his head to try and help him fall asleep. Every wrong move he made was gone over and every right move was accentuated so he could remember what worked for him. This process would help him sleep some nights but it only had him thinking more. Ley's head picked up from the pillow as he heard a knock at the door, slowly standing up when it came again and walking over towards it. He hoped to see Stanford standing behind it but he wasn't surprised when he saw Dipper there.

"Hey..." Dipper seemed about as ready for bed as Ley was, though dressed in his night clothes his eyes revealed how wide awake he was. Ley nodded to the greeting, watching as Dipper fidgeted there before stepping aside to let him into the room.

"Did you want to talk?" Ley asked as he made his way back towards the bed, sitting down on the edge of it and turning his gaze back to Dipper. Dipper shook his head and shrugged a shoulder as if he wasn't sure what he wanted to do.

"I wanted to see how you were doing... Things must've been boring for you the past few days." Their gazes locked for a moment before Dipper was moving his back to the side, Ley sighing before patting the bed so Dipper could sit next to him. The other came over with little hesitation and sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze almost glued to the carpet before him once they were next to each other.

"Boring's one way to put it... Stanford's been busy and you've got to plan your party. Eighteen's a big year."

"Not really... it's not like I can drink. And I've already got my driver's license." Dipper had a point there. And the more Ley thought about it, the only freedoms Dipper seemed to have was he was not considered a minor in certain ways, most of which were sexual. Ley had a feeling that if he brought that up now, things would turn down a path he had been avoiding with him.

His thoughts snapped out of it as he felt one of Dipper's hands brush against his own, knuckles running up against the side of his hand in a gentle caress. Ley was unaware he was holding his breath until his lungs started to burn, but by then Dipper's hand was covering his own and squeezing. He could feel the bed shift as Dipper moved closer and their shoulders touched up against each other. Even though they had been together countless times over the week, this was the advancing of a teenager that didn't know what he was doing. It made Ley certain of what Dipper had come there for. Dipper pressed a few kisses to his cheek before Ley turned his head, capturing his lips and returning the affection as it was given to him. It didn't take long for Ley to feel a tongue running along his lips in a tentative plea, opening his mouth and taking control of the kiss to show Dipper how it was done.

Dipper's hands grabbed at his shirt and he laid back against the bed, pulling Ley on top of him as they kissed and keeping his fingers fisted in his shirt. At best, the kiss was clumsy even as Ley took over, Dipper moaning into it as Ley pressed his body down and ground against him. Ley's shirt was tugged at and he pulled back from the kiss just to strip it off and toss it to the side. Once that was done, he pulled at Dipper's shirt as well and they worked on taking it off, only coming back together when it was done. Ley humming into the kiss as Dipper's hands ran along his stomach and torso, his back bowing as his nipples were brushed and the hum forming more into a moan. The kiss broke at that point and they opened their eyes to look at each other. Dipper's face was a bright red while Ley felt he fared no batter. Fingers brushed against his nipples again and he moaned with they were pinched lightly. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Dipper pulled Ley down and kissed along his neck before whispering in his ear.

"Can I... touch you?" Hands were still moving along his chest and Ley almost laughed at the question, the noise instead coming out as a broken bark.

"Aren't you doing that already?" Dipper's hands paused at that before moving lower along Ley's body, moving past the waistband of his pants to grab his ass with both hands. Ley's body tensed. He rolled his hips back into the touch before grinding down against Dipper and extracting a moan from him. Ley could feel how hard Dipper was through the fabric of their sweats and he couldn't stop himself from teasing, grinding his hips down more as his own cock slowly became erect. They met back in a kiss and Dipper's hands squeezed at his ass, pulling him down harder so the grinding would give more pressure. Without saying anything, they set a pace for their hips to roll and kissed once more, noses brushing against each other as Ley's teeth dragged and bit along Dipper's lower lip. Their moans were muffled into the embrace as they brought themselves closer to climax, heads spinning as the pleasure built up before Ley pulled away. He smirked down to Dipper as he sat up in his lap, moving himself on top of the other's body so he could grind his ass back against against his erection. Dipper let out a moan and his hands grabbed Ley's lips, blunt nails digging into the skin. "Tell me what you want, Dipper..."

Dipper's eyes opened and he looked at Ley, about ready to say something before his body tensed and he looked past him. Ley's smirk fell as he rested on Dipper's hips, brows furrowing to the change of mood as he wondered what was wrong. Before he got the chance to ask, however, he felt a band of leather slip around his neck and tighten before his head was jerked back. His airway was cut off and his hands flew up to grab at the collar, freezing as a voice laced with anger and hurt growled in his ear.

"You _slut_."


	12. Studded Collar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ley fucked up and Stanford is making sure he pays the price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: rape/non-con, choking, humiliation, victim blaming

"Dipper, get out." Stanford's voice was stern as he looked over Ley's shoulder and to the younger man underneath him. Dipper was stuck there like a deer in the headlights, his entire body tense as he locked gazes with the man. The collar that was around Ley's throat was still pulling him back, cutting off his air as he tried to gasp his brother's name. But Stanford ignored the pleas, only pulling back on the leash attached to it a bit harder and sneering as he barked out his command. _"Now!"_

Within a few seconds, Dipper was coming to himself and scrambling out from under Ley's legs, almost falling off the bed and tripping over himself as he grabbed his shirt and fled the room. The door closed behind him and Stanford kept the tight grip on Ley's collar until the man's movements grew weaker. He let go at that moment and Ley fell forward on the bed, coughing and gasping for air as he rubbed at his neck. His eyes were wide as he looked at Stanford, trying to back himself up on the bed only for his ankle to be grabbed and his body dragged forward.

"Stanford-" His voice was barely a whisper as his throat screamed in pain, trying to get his ankle out of his brother's grasp. The fingers kept wrapped around, however, and no amount of tugging was about to free him. "I'm sorry-"

"You can't spend a week on your own, can you? Not without spreading your legs for any bit of comfort you can get." Stanford kept the sternness to his voice and he tugged at Ley's ankle once more before letting go. He climbed into Ley's lap and took off his belt, taking advantage of how disoriented his brother was to tie his hands together. The leash that was still attached to the collar was grabbed after and he brought it to the headboard, starting to tie it there so Ley wouldn't be able to get away from him. "You'd take anyone, wouldn't you?"

"Stanford, that's not- I'm sorry.." Ley struggled and tried to undo the collar even with his hands tied together. The leash was tugged and looped to catch Ley off guard and he gave an airy cry, his hands being grabbed so the leash could be tied through the belt to keep him from undoing any of his bindings. "Stanford, please-"

"I thought there was something funny going on. You were spending more time with Dipper and you weren't as eager every time we got together. Who knew you could move on so easily to whoever was more available." The leash was done being tied and Ley resigned to the fact that he wasn't getting out of there on his own, watching his brother closely as Stanford pulled back and walked around the room. His legs were tucked up to his chest and he tried moving to loosen the pull on his collar, only managing a little as his hands were held above his head. Stanford walked to one of the drawers and took out a bottle of lube and some condoms, tossing them onto the bed when he came back over with a pair of underwear from the drawer balled up in his fist.

"Please stop-" Ley was cut off as Stanford grabbed his face and forced his mouth open, shoving the underwear in to muffle his noises and shut him up.

"I don't want to hear it." Six fingered hands grabbed at Ley's pants and yanked them off, tossing them to the ground before Stanford stripped himself of his clothes. He climbed onto the bed when he was done and his lips curled somewhere between a smirk and a sneer as he saw his brother still sporting an erection. "You're getting off on this?" Ley shook his head and tried to cover himself more with his legs, Stanford grabbing his ankles and forcing them down to see Ley's cock. One of Stanford's hands moved to wrap his fingers around his brother's erection, giving a dry stroke before he squeezed hard along the length. The pressure flew past pleasuring and hit the border of painful, Ley crying out into the fabric that was in his mouth and trying to kick himself back with his legs. He stopped when Stanford squeezed in the same way again and tears brimmed in his eyes, rolling down his cheeks as his arms and legs shook.

Stanford's hand pulled away and he grabbed Ley's ankles to straighten his legs out on the bed, spreading them so he could slip between. The bottle of lube was grabbed and Stanford put a small amount in his fingers before thrusting two fingers into Ley, the man's back arching as he cried out in pain to the sudden intrusion. Too many fingers, not enough lube, and Stanford was moving them without giving him any time to adjust. Ley's noises were muffled by the fabric in his mouth and he tried to relax his body to make things easier, though his erection was waning due to the pain and the fear towards what Stanford was doing. As soon as Stanford saw his cock starting to soften, he twisted his fingers to massage at Ley's prostate and extracted a moan from the man. Ley's back bowed and he clenched around the fingers inside of him, looking to Stanford with tears in his eyes as his brother kept going.

Two fingers turned into three not long after and Ley was sporting a full erection, staring up at the ceiling instead of at his brother. He knew the anger and feeling of betrayal was there behind his actions and he didn't want to see it on his brother's face. He wanted to lose himself in his head so he wouldn't feel the pain from this anymore. Stanford noticed how Ley was trying to lose his mind elsewhere and grabbed at his brother's face, squeezing hard with his fingers and forcing Ley to look at him.

"You're going to look at me. You're going to look at me and you're going to feel everything that happens right now because you asked for it." Ley met Stanford's gaze and his entire body tensed the panic settling back into his body as he struggled underneath his hand. The three fingers inside of him crooked up and he stopped moving, grabbing onto the headboard as best as he could so he could loosen the look of the leash and stop choking himself. Stanford let go of Ley's face to grab his hands and tug at them, the leash yanking the collar and choking him until he let go.

Pulling his fingers out of Ley, Stanford wiped them on the bed and rolled a condom on, grabbing one of Ley's thighs and hoisting it up to spread him. Ley whined beneath the fabric as he looked to Stanford, but any unintelligible plea was ignored as the man thrust into him hard. His hands yanked and the collar tightened. He grabbed onto the headboard again and tried to keep his hands still as Stanford started thrusting into him. His toes curled whenever he brushed against his prostate and he hated how his body was reacting, his cock fully erect as his hips rocked with his brother's. Stanford Thrust harder and bent over Ley's body, making sure the man was looking at him as he did it. Whatever Stanford may have wanted Ley to see as their gazes locked, he could only find one thing.

Pain. Betrayal. Anger.

The tears that were running down Ley's cheeks were mirrored by the ones that were brimming in Stanford's eyes behind his glasses. The way Stanford grit his teeth told Ley he was holding back all of the pain he was feeling and the guilt hit Ley harder than it did before. He relaxed his body and let Stanford do as he wanted. Whatever his features betrayed must have angered his brother and he choked as his hands were pulled and the collar was tugged.

"You should feel bad for me... You brought this on yourself." Ley struggled some and settled when his hands were let go. Stanford grabbed the underwear that was in Ley's mouth and pulled it out, tossing it to the side and allowing his brother to suck in a deep breath. Ley coughed and looked to Stanford, trying to open his mouth and finding pain in his jaw from it having been forced open for so long. He cleared his throat and forced himself through the pain.

"I'm... sorry..." Stanford's thrusts became harder and Ley moaned as he was unable to grin his teeth and keep the noises from escaping him. A few more thrusts were given before Stanford stilled and Ley could tell the man had come. He pulled back and tied the condom off to throw it out, looking to Ley's erection and moving a hand to wrap around it and start stroking. Ley shook his head and tried to push himself back with his feet, Stanford glancing up to him in question. "Don't... wanna." Stanford's hand hesitated and fell, only for him to reach up and undo the belt around Ley's wrist and the collar around the man's neck. Both were tossed down to the ground and Stanford started rubbing at Ley's wrists to massage the marks away. Ley laid there and stared at the ceiling for a moment, letting what just happened sink in and the tears stop rolling down his cheek. His throat hurt, his wrists hurt, his jaw hurt, and everything seemed to be crumbling down around him.

The gentle touches from Stanford were so bizarre compared to the brutality he was treated with only moments before but he didn't shy away from them. Stanford look at Ley and Ley glanced right back, his breathing shallow to keep himself from being sent into a fit of coughs. Nothing else was said as Stanford kept massaging different parts of Ley's body, the two of them lying down together on the bed afterwards. At first, Ley's back was pressed up against Stanford's chest and the other's arms were wrapped around his waist. This position was good, but past the pain and hurt that Ley was feeling himself after the assault was nothing compared to the guilt he felt for cheating on Stanford. After a few moments, he turned around in Ford's arms so he could face him, bringing the man to his chest and wrapping his arms back around him. This was how they used to spend the nights they shared a bed in their youth. Stanford clinging to him and Ley being the brother that never wanted to leave his side. 

"I'm sorry..." Ley spoke again, his voice still soft and cracked as he held Stanford to his chest. Stanford's arms tightened around his waist and their legs entwined, the glasses he was still wearing digging against Stanford's nose and into Ley's chest. They pulled back just to take them off and set the to the side, arms wrapping back around each other right after and Ley's fingers brushing through the back of Stanford's hair. "I'm so sorry..." 

Stanford wanted to apologize too. His anger had got the best of him and he lashed out and ignored every cry Ley had given for him to stop. He'd raped him and hurt him and he couldn't believe that Ley was still there with him, holding onto him like this. But he was still feeling too hurt to say anything, no matter how much Ley deserved to be apologized to as well. His arms only tightened and his face only buried itself in Ley's chest, his eyes closing as he focused on Ley's breathing.

It was a while before either of them went to sleep. Both had too much on their minds yet neither of them spoke, their thoughts keeping them awake until exhaustion finally took them. Ley was the first to fall asleep, Stanford following him not far behind. It was the only night they spent in the mansion where they slept in the same bed together. If only it had been under better circumstances.

By morning, Ley woke up and Stanford was gone.


	13. Talking isn't Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though Stanford and Ley don't talk to each other after the incident, they can't can't comfortably go back to their home dimension until things are sorted out. But with neither of them seeming ready to talk, outsiders will have to resort to other matters.

When Ley asked Ford if he could borrow a few turtlenecks, a few questions were asked. He tried to maneuver his way around it, eventually getting the articles of clothing without having to give away any information. The bruises around his neck were covered up with a hoodie zipped all the way before then, but Ley knew that there were visible parts he couldn't work with on his own. With the amount of force he had been choked with, both by Stanford and his own hands unintentionally, it would be a while before they faded and stopped hurting.

The day after the incident, Ley used the excuse that he couldn't talk to not say anything to his brother. Stanford himself decided to hide himself away in the lab and work with Ford and Fiddleford during the whole day. Dipper was avoiding both Stanford and Ley as well, leaving him to either hang out with Mabel and Stan or be on his own. The latter seemed to be not only the best choice for him, but the choice he went with. He spent the day sleeping or walking around the grounds, moving without an appetite or a destination in mind.

The next day, Ley didn't even make an excuse for himself. He stayed away from Stanford because he wasn't sure what he could say to him. Ley betrayed him and hurt him and it was only a matter of time before Stanford would move onto something, or someone, better and more reliable. Thoughts that kept him awake at night plagued him during the day as well, telling him that his brother would move on after that. Ley would be as alone in the world as he was when he was kicked out of the house and he wasn't sure how he would survive it this time. But if it were to happen, he wouldn't stop it. If Stanford didn't want him around anymore, then he would understand and leave.

Three days before the party and Ley had secluded himself completely from everyone. Stanford came out of the lab and Mabel, Dipper, and Stan saw more of him than they did of Ley and that was how the man wanted it. He spent most of his time along a secluded wall of the garden to the side, usually just sitting there at the only bench and watching the sky or falling asleep. When Stan found him that day, he was toying with a carton of cigarettes, an unlit one stuck between his lips as he stared at the sky.

"You want me to light that for you?" Stan spoke up and made his way next to Ley as the man looked at him. Ley shook his head and took the cigarette from his mouth, his gaze dropping to it.

"Nah. I quit a while ago... Don't need to get started on it now." The reason he quit was because Stanford wanted him living for as long as possible. But if things were going to go south as he believed they were, then there was nothing holding him back from lighting it up. Sighing, Ley tucked the cigarette behind his ear and looked to the sky again.

"So you haven't been around for a few days. Care to explain what's going on?" Ley looked at Stan from the corner of his eye before turning his gaze away.

"It's complicated."

"Sleeping with your brother does tend to complicate things." Ley tensed the moment Stan mentioned it, his teeth gritting as he fought the urge to get up and run off. That was one conversation and fight he never wanted to have, but he figured there was no denying it if Stan really knew.

"How long have you known?"

"Since the last time you guys stayed with us. You're not exactly subtle sometimes." Stan turned his head to look towards Ley and Ley looked right back at him. Their expressions were both fairly blank before Stan sighed and pinched at the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going to ask when it started and why you're doing it. There's some things I don't want to know. But it seems like you guys got into a big fight and you need to sort your shit out before the party. I can tell Dipper knows as well, and that you've been doing stuff with him, but Mabel doesn't. Don't drag anyone else down with whatever happened." Stan glared and Ley could only nod his head in understanding before he looked off again.

"I'll try... but I don't know what to even say to him." Stan sighed and rubbed at his face, grumbling to himself before crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're going to make me ask, aren't you?" Ley gave him a confused look and Stan rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Why were you doing what you were doing with Dipper when you have your brother?" Even as he said it, Stan shuddered and looked away from Ley. The younger man nodded his head slightly and toyed with the carton that now sat in his lap.

"Dipper reminds me a lot of what Stanford used to be like... before I got kicked out of the house and all. We were the closest two people could get before we started doing things with each other and we only became closer afterwards... the way Stanford was around me when we were alone was like he needed me more than anyone else in the world." Ley sighed and stopped fidgeting with the carton. "But I think I was just projecting my own needs. He was the only thing that ever made my life worth a damn... he still is. If it weren't for him, I would have died on the streets of New York. Now I'm a successful fighter and it's all thanks to him being there for me. But he's where he is and it's no thanks to me because he would've been there anyway. If I wasn't in his life, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. I don't feel needed like I used to, so when Dipper came to me feeling that, I just stuck myself onto it." Ley told himself that was the whole truth, and, for the most part it was. He was still attracted to Dipper for other reason, but when it came to the reason he easily let things happen, it was because Ley felt needed. Stan sighed after listening to the whole spiel, looking out in the same direction that Ley's gaze was in.

"I can't say I understand the romantic bits - Ford and I have never and will never get like that. But I know what you mean when you say you want to be needed. I felt the same way for the longest time. Sometimes I still feel it." Stan nudged his elbow against Ley's arm and got the man to look at him. "I'm not one to vouch for talking to your brother. We've bottled shit up and hid it from each other on numerous occasions. But if you can say all that so easily to me, why not just try saying it to him? See how that turns out." Ley looked at Stan and nodded once more, taking the cigarette from his ear to hold it between his lips. He held out his hand and Stan took a lighter from his pocket and handed it over. "Thought you said you quit."

"I did. And I plan to again after this. But I need something to unstress me." He lit the end of the cigarette and handed the lighter back over, taking a small drag and watching as the smoke curled from his mouth. The smoke burned his throat more than it used to, but maybe that was due to the injuries he sustained. Ley held the cigarette between his fingers and exhaled the rest of the smoke.

"So, been meaning to ask. Why the turtlenecks?" Stan moved a hand to tug at the neck and Ley flinched away, only to bring the fabric down himself and reveal the yellowing bruises that were wrapped around his throat. Stan was taken aback and looked from the bruises to Ley. "Do I even want to know?"

"Not really." At that point, there was movement from the corner of their eyes and both Ley and Stan turned their heads to see Stanford and Ford standing there.

"I think you two need to talk." Stan stood up from the bench and patted Ley's shoulder before walking off with Ford. Stanford stood there and looked to his brother before Ley turned his gaze away. He could hear the man moving closer and he played with the lit cigarette as Stanford sat down next to him. Things were quiet until Ley spoke up.

"How much of that did you hear?" Stanford looked to his brother before sighing and rubbing a hand along his face, fixing his glasses afterwards.

"Everything after Stan asked why you were with Dipper." Ley's lips pressed together and he took a drag before putting the cigarette out on the side of the stone bench. "I had no idea you felt like that..."

"I didn't want you to know.. I felt like if you knew, you'd feel bad for me and stay because you'd worry I'd self destruct if you left."

"Would you?"

"Maybe." Things were silent for another moment, Ley toying with the carton before Stanford took it and tucked it away in his jacket pocket. Ley let it happen and held his hands in his lap instead of fidgeting.

"You may not think I need you, but I do." Ley turned his head to look towards Stanford as he spoke, brows furrowed slightly. "I do, Stanley. I've loved you since we were kids and I don't know what I would do without you. You say I would be here even if you weren't, but I don't think I would have made it through school without you. Back then you were the only light I had in my life. Just because I've got some more now doesn't mean you don't shine the brightest. And just like you're scared of me leaving you, I'm terrified of you leaving me. You praise yourself and act like you're hot stuff but I know how little you actually think of yourself when you're one of the best people I've ever had in my life. You're charismatic, attractive, and when you're not trying to be a lovable jerk, you really can be lovable. Anyone who doesn't look at you and see this wonderful man is either blind or has poor taste because you're so much more than you think you are." Stanford stopped there and his gaze had dropped from the sky to the ground, his hands curled into fists in his jacket pockets. Silence hung in the air before Ley grabbed his brother's wrist and pulled his hand out. He pried his fingers open so the could interlock, the two of them glancing at each other before their heads rested together. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you... there's nothing that can excuse my actions and it will never happen again..." Ley took the hand he was holding and kissed the top of it before looking at Stanford.

"Good. I never thought you'd have it in you... but it was one of the worst things I've been through. If it happens again, no matter how much we love each other, that's it." Stanford nodded with his head still resting against Ley's and he squeezed his brother's hand.

"I do love you, Stanley..."

"I love you too, Stanford." They pulled their heads away from each other to rest their shoulders against each other, looking out into the garden with their fingers still intertwined together. Stanford's thumb ran along top of Ley's hand and he squeezed it once more.

"I think we should have a talk with Dipper."

"I think I should. I'm the one that let it get so far." Stanford looked at his brother, only to nod at the idea and press a kiss to his cheek. Ley's head turned and he stole a proper kiss, pulling back from the embrace after a few moments so they could sit there again. "Do you still want to stay for the kids' birthday party?"

"Might as well. Mabel's expecting it and, at the very least, we can't disappoint her."

"Agreed."


	14. Let's Say Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ley and Dipper talk and some dancing is involved at the birthday party. Let's have some happy before things get tragic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want this fic to be something a rollercoaster ending on a nice note, then end it on this chapter and don't read on. Because 15 and 16 involve major character deaths and nothing good comes from it. Also, the song that plays when the dancing goes on is St. James Ballroom by Alice Francis. Go listen.

As much as Ley wanted to talk to Dipper sooner rather than later, with it being only a few days before the twins birthday, Mabel was keeping him busy so they could work at the Mystery Shack and sett up for their party. Stanford stopped hiding down in the lab with Fiddleford and Ford and started being more active with Ley and Stan, helping with the arrangements and getting the decorations as they were needed. Things didn't start to calm down until the day of the part, right when everything was set up in one of the rooms at the shack and before the guests would start to arrive.

Dipper had been avoiding them since the incident and barely said a word as they worked together with the decorations, sitting down in one of the chairs once everything was done and all there was left to do was wait. Stanford and Ley exchanged a glance before Ley walked over and sat down next to him, Dipper looking at him from the corner of his eye before his gaze dropped.

"Hey." Ley tried to offer a smile, even though Dipper wasn't looking at him to see it.

"Hey..." Even though Ley had said he would be the one to talk to Dipper, he wasn't sure how to even start the conversation. There were so many ways it could go and he figured he'd already done enough damage to the kid's life as it was. Thankfully, the silence didn't hang in the air for too long before something was said. "How are you doing...?" Dipper asked and gestured towards the turtleneck, Ley's fingers going up to it before shaking his head.

"It's better... The bruise is still there, but it looks worse than it feels. Stanford and I talked it through and we've made up. There were a lot of issues neither of us were talking about but the air's clear now." Dipper nodded and his gaze dropped down, silence filling the air between them once more. There was no good way for either of them to talk about what happened, but it had to be done before Ley and Stanford left. Ley took a moment to sort out his thoughts in his mind before he nudged Dipper's shoulder with his own.

"I'm sorry for having lead you on and used you." Dipper looked back to him at that and shook his head.

"No - I used you... You were being nice to me and I just kept taking and I got you in a lot of trouble with your brother..."

"But I could have told you no. You remind me so much of Ford when he was around your age... I just took advantage." Maybe that wasn't the best way for things to get out there, but it was better than nothing. At least they knew part of what was going on in their minds. All that was left to happen was for them to figure out where to take it. Dipper nudged Ley's shoulder back before sitting back in his chair and watching as Mabel ran around to hang her own personal decorations.

"We both used each other... and messed up a lot. I like you, but I know I went too far." Ley smiled softly to the admission and wrapped an arm around Dipper's shoulders to squeeze them and give him a side hug.

"It'll be water under the bridge before either of us know it. I'm sure you'll move on and find some other looker to do stuff with." Dipper laughed a little as Ley let him go and shoved lightly at the man's side.

"Yeah, right." Mabel looked towards them and waved for Dipper to come over, the two of them standing up and nodding to each other. "I'm glad you stayed for the party." Ley waved his hand before Dipper went off, leaving Ley alone until Stanford came over and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Looks like things turned out well." Ley nodded and pulled his hair out of the bun he kept it in so he could fix it and tie it right back.

"We both apologized and Dipper's going to move on. He's a good kid." Stanford nodded and took Ley's hand so he could squeeze it.

"He is. Do you have everything packed so we can leave after?"

"Yep. Everything's in the car."

"Okay. I love you, Stanley."

"Love you too, Stanford."

* * *

It didn't take long for the guests to start arriving and the party to kick into full gear, Mabel dancing around with her friends while Dipper talked to Wendy and her girlfriend as well as a few other people that had been invited. The music was loud and the food was good, the party showing no sign of waning after it started to get dark out. If anything, it was only wound up more until the clock started to hit the double digits. People started filing out at ten but the music kept playing, as if Mabel had been planning for it to go all night. Stanford and Ley were sitting in a couple chairs to the side, watching as everything happened and reminiscing the very few parties they had been to in their lifetime. It was a shame they couldn't go to any in their teens, but they would have been the odd ones out anyway.

As the crowd dwindled to the last seven people, not counting the Pines family, the music took a different pace and Ley felt like he couldn't sit around anymore. He stayed sitting for the remainder of the song, and when the next one played, he stood up and held his hand out for Stanford to take.

"Come on. Let's dance a little." Stanford looked at him with a raised brow before shaking his head and waving a hand at him.

"No thanks... Maybe Mabel will want to dance?" Ley pouted for a moment but didn't fight, throwing his hands up in surrender before whistling to Mabel.

"Hey, wanna dance?" She beamed at the question and they got onto the dance floor as the music swelled, making up their own steps to the electro swing music and staying as in sync with each other as they could. Ley spun her around once and she laughed before trying to spin him, the two of them getting close as they danced through the verse. Their pace changed as they hit the chorus and they laughed as they sped up a little, Ley picking Mabel up and spinning her around once before setting her back down. As the chorus came to an end, she spun off the floor and grabbed Dipper's arm, flinging him into the middle and forcing Ley to catch him. They stared for a moment before Ley grinned as the next verse picked up, dancing with him in the same way he had danced with Mabel. Dipper was a bit more awkward on his feet until he got into the swing of things, spinning around and spinning Ley just the same and picking up their pace when the chorus hit once more. They laughed every time they knocked into each other because Dipper wasn't sure where to put his feet and grinned as the chorus went out. Dipper got off the floor and left Ley standing there by himself, looking towards Stanford as the man had watched him dance.

_Something is still missing in here._

Ley gestured for Stanford to come out on the dancefloor and he shook his head, Mabel slipping in by his side without him taking notice.

_What is it?_

Dipper sat on Stanford's other side and looked to his twin from over the man and the two of them grinning. Stanford looked to both of them and the smile that was on his face dropped as he stared in confusion.

_I know..._

At that point, Dipper and Mabel grabbed Stanford's arms and flung him into the middle of the floor, almost colliding with his brother. Ley grinned at him and grabbed his brother's hands.

_Yo Max! Now hit the trumpet bad._

Ley led Stanford into the same dance he did with Dipper and Mabel. Only this time, instead of them tripping over each other and trying to find their pace, Stanford moved with him fluidly after seeing how he danced with the other's. They grinned at each other and Ley laughed as he was spun around, the two of them swinging to the music with ease as the chorus played itself out to the end of the song. When they were finished dancing, Ley wrapped his arms around his brother's waist and rested his head on the man's shoulder. The remaining people that were there clapped and cheered for them, Stanford laughing and fixing his glasses as he hugged his brother back.

"I think we can end on a good note like that..." Ley nodded and pressed a kiss to his brother's shoulder that no one saw before pulling back and away from him.

"Let's go tell the others."

* * *

Outside and behind the Mystery Shack, Stan, Ford, Mabel, and Dipper gathered around as Ley and Stanford got their bags from the car. The twins hugged their alternate versions first and said goodbye, then doing the same with the kids before the portal gun was brought out. Stanford typed in their dimension number and where they should end up before he shot it in an open area, a blue and white portal appearing not ten feet away from them. Ley and Stanford waved goodbye one last time before stepping through. The portal closed behind them and they looked around the area they ended up in. Feeling for a switch, the lights came on and their apartment was laid out before them.

"You and Ford make the specifics modification you were talking about?" Ley asked as he carried their bags in and went to the bedroom so he could unpack some of their things. Stanford nodded his head and followed in after him, taking a seat at the edge of the bed before lying back on it.

"Yeah. He may not have been able to create a stable gun on his own, but he knows how to handle it like he built it."

"Technically he did since you're versions of each other." Stanford laughed as Ley teased, the man giving up halfway through putting their clothes away before he made his way towards his brother. Sitting down next to Stanford, Ley laid back against the bed and the two of them looked at each other, a smile on both of their faces. "I think we're going to be stronger than ever." After everything that happened, they were able to talk to each other and discuss the insecurities that they had. Now that they were aware of them, it seemed like their relationship was only going to grow from then on.

"I think so too... What did mom used to say?" They both took a moment to think before Ley chuckled and chimed in.

"You've gotta wade through a lot of shit to get to the good." They chuckled and Ley grasped one of Stanford's hands.

"Let's hope there's no more shit we have to wade through."

"Hey - even if there is, it's going to take a lot for me to ever want to leave you." Ley moved himself from where he laid and got over his brother, leaning down to rest their foreheads against each other before he kissed him. The kiss was held for a moment before he pulled back to look down to Stanford, his expression becoming serious even as he smiled. "You're stuck with me, Stanford. From now until the end of days."

"Our days, to be exact." Ley rolled his eyes and squeezed his brother's hand.

"Nah. We're going to surpass that somehow. Don't know how, but not even time will stop us. Alternate dimensions couldn't." They laughed and kissed once more. They thought their happy days would never end.


	15. Take My Half

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years pass since Stanford and Ley left and Mabel and Dipper are in different colleges. Their spring breaks align and come in the middle of March. What could happen during?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH WARNING. I REPEAT, MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH.
> 
> Do enjoy yourselves.

Freshman year of school and no one was surprised that Dipper had climbed the hierarchy of the paranormal investigations club of his university. With the journals he had been making over the years about everything in Gravity Falls, as well as the additions he had gotten from Stanford's dimension, he awed and inspired some of the members to be more active about their mysteries. In between studying for classes and sleeping four hours a night, as well as keeping up with the video blog he still ran, Dipper was going out every weekend with some of the club members and investigating local mysteries and legends. Every town had something that was out of the ordinary and he was going to prove as many of the rumors as he could.

So Dipper wasn't really surprised how he had gotten himself into this situation. He wasn't happy about standing aside in a dark room with candles lit and the Ouija board in the middle of the floor, but he wasn't exactly surprised. Great start off to the spring semester.

"I still think this is a bad idea." He spoke to the three members that were setting up the rest of the room for it, one of them looking at him before laughing.

"Come on, man. Haven't you thought about if this shit is real?"

"Yeah! You've seen gnomes and fairies. Aren't you curious about demons?" Another member piped up and Dipper pinched at the bridge of his nose. He'd figured out once the idea was tossed around, there was no way he could dissuade the club from doing something as stupid as this. But he wasn't about to let them do it on their own and get hurt.

"I am, but what if it is real and you end up releasing something that's dangerous? I'm sure people have gotten seriously hurt." A member laughed and waved him off.

"Please. If anything comes out, you'll take care of it, right? You're the expert."

"I'm not an expert! I've just seen things that most people don't think are real!"

"Same difference." Dipper shut up after that and pulled up a chair to sit down, waiting for the members to finish their preparation and chewing on the end of one of the pens he carried with him. His journal was in his bag at his feet, but he wasn't going to take it out and wait to jot something noteworthy down. With his luck, the journal would either burst into flames or the experiment would be a bust. No matter the circumstances, he wanted it to be a bust anyway. It meant less danger than if it were real.

A few minutes passed and the three members were ready, sitting down on the floor around the Ouija board and looking between each other. One of them looked over his shoulder to Dipper and nodded his head towards the middle. "You're not even going to come and sit with us?" Dipper shook his head.

"I'm not taking part in this. If you want to throw your lives on the line, then go ahead. But I'm just going to observe." The members shrugged and placed their hands on the piece in the middle of the board. They looked around before asking the first question.

"Is there someone in the room with us? Is anyone here?" They sat there for a few moments, and when nothing happened, they asked another question. "Is there no one that wants to talk to us?" Again, nothing happened after a few moments. Tactics were changed once again. "I invoke any spirit that may be listening to come use the piece. Talk to us so that we may know who you are and why you are here." Once more, nothing seemed to happen. They waited a minute before the piece started to move. Dipper sat straight up in his chair and watched as he moved underneath the members' hands, his mouth dropping open slightly as the members talked excitedly among themselves. "Spirit, are you here?" The piece slowly moved across the board and circled 'Yes'. The guys grinned and laughed before one of them cleared their throat and asked another question. "Do you have anything you want to say to us?" The piece moved once more and started spelling out the message. "S... u... c... k... m... y... d - Tyler!" One of the guys burst out laughing and fell back from the board, Dipper frowning as he slumped in his chair and the other two fumed at the man. "You son of a bitch, I thought it was working!" Tyler only kept laughing, holding onto his stomach until he calmed down and waved at them.

"Chill, guys. It's just a stupid board. Nothing's happened so I decided to screw with you." The two fumed and Dipper sighed, getting up from his seat and heading towards the light switch.

"Alright, that's it. We've tested the fates and Tyler had some fun with it. I think we're done here. Go start blowing out the candles." One of the guys nodded and got up as the other punched Tyler, heading to start messing with the candles as Dipper flipped the switch. Only the lights didn't come on and the candle didn't go out. Dipper's brows furrowed and he looked at the switch, flipping it a few times before leaving it on, giving no sign of electricity. "Power must be blown..."

"Uh... guys." The member who had gotten up to blow out the candles looked at them before pointing to the candle he tried blowing out. They all got up and watched as he blew again, the flame burning still and not wavering in the slightest. He passed his finger through the flame and looked at Dipper. "It's cold..." Dipper swallowed roughly and passed his own hand through the flame, a chill going through his arm instead of his hand being burnt.

Something started to clatter on the ground and all four of them looked towards the board. The piece was shaking against it, drawing them to stand around and watch as it moved. Nothing was said as they all seemed to hold their breath, watching as it stopped shaking and started gliding along the board. As soon as it started spelling something, one of the members read off the letters.

"D... i... p... p... e... r..." The piece stopped and Dipper's back tensed, a cold sweat breaking out along his skin. The members looked at him and he looked around to them before at the board.

"Me...?" The piece skittered to 'Yes' before stilling itself. He swallowed roughly before asking a question. "What do you want from me?" The piece started to shake again before gliding along the board. This time, instead of going to the letters, it chose three numbers.

"3... 1... 8..." Dipper shook his head and he looked between the members before back to the board again.

"What does that mean? What significance does that have with me?" The piece shook before sliding to 'Goodbye' and clattering once more before stilling. All of the candles blew out just as the lights came on. One of the members took a step back and fell over, catching his breath after having held it in for so long. The other two were still staring at the board with wide eyes and Dipper had stumbled to sit down in the seat he was in before. His breathing shook and he looked between them before staring at the piece.

It would be a month before he knew what that meant.

* * *

"Why do all of us have to go pick Grandpa and Grandma at the airport?" Mabel whined in the back seat of the van as Dipper sat next to her, their parents in the driver and passenger seats as they drove along the highway. 

"Because they didn't want to have to wait to see you. I thought that was sweet." Their mother spoke up as she drove, their father sitting in the passenger side and looking through Dipper's latest journal.

"You've got a whole page saved for Shermie's tales of the Jersey Devil. Why don't you go visit him over the summer and take a ride out to the Pine Barrens? They're just an hour away from where he lives." Their father spoke up as he flipped through some of the pages, Dipper shrugging to himself before laughing.

"There's a slim chance it's real. And if it is real, I don't even know how I would start looking for it."

"You don't know if you don't try." Dipper nodded and leaned back in his seat, Mabel nudging his arm after a few seconds and smiling to him.

"Maybe get Grunkle Ford to fly out with you and help. I don't think he's gotten conclusive results." Dipper smiled to his twin and nudged her arm back.

"Yeah, that could work... How have your designs been going?" Mabel beamed and she nudged his arm even harder.

"Great! My teachers want me to find a place I can submit them to. And some of the drawings you gave me were great additions to the shirts!" Mabel was almost squirming in her seat and Dipper laughed, rubbing at his arm where he was nudged.

"Awesome. If you want any more, I could always give them to you." The car pulled off of the highway and stopped at a light, Dipper undoing his seatbelt so he could move to the front of the van to get his journal back from his dad. Once it was handed over, he sat back down and started flipping through the pages. The light turned green and they pulled into the intersection, Mabel looking past her brother to see a tanker truck coming at full speed at them. Mabel had only a few seconds to grab Dipper and pull him to her side, putting him between her and the side of the car, the truck horn sounding before it made impact at full speed. The car was T-boned and started flipping, the last thing Dipper remembered before smacking his head and falling unconscious was the way Mabel's nails dug into his arms as she held him.

The date was March 18.

* * *

Bright light filtered through his eyelids as Dipper started to come to, a beeping right near his head being the only sound his mind could process. He started blinking and tried rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his hand, only to find one with an IV in it while the other was in a cast. His eyes squinted and he looked around the room, the white of the walls almost too bright for him and causing him to squint more. Once they adjusted enough, he looked over towards another side of the room and saw a couch with two people on it. His voice came out gravelly as he spoke.

"Grandpa... Shermie..? Grandma... Louise...?" The elderly couple on the couch blinked and looked towards Dipper, only for Shermie to stand straight up and almost trip as he made his way to the bedside.

"Dipper!" Dipper winced at the sudden noise and Shermie quieted himself as Louise got up and stood beside him.

"What.... happened?" He tried swallowing but his throat was too dry, his entire body starting to pulse with a dull pain as the painkillers wore off. Shermie noticed the wincing and went out in the hall to call for a nurse, Louise stepping up and resting a hand gently on top of the hand in a cast.

"You were in an accident, sweetie... You've been out for a couple days." Dipper's brows furrowed and he shook his head slightly, turning it to see if there was a bed beside him. But he was alone in the room.

"Where's... Mabel? Mom... dad?" Louise looked away and didn't answer, Shermie coming back in the room with both a doctor and a nurse. The nurse went to his side to ask him if he was feeling any pain and he told her where and how much. The doctor waited until she was done before speaking.

"Mister Pines, you were the only survivor in the accident. Your left leg is broken in two places and you have a radius fracture in your right hand. You've got mild hyphema in your right eye from the impact of the collision and..." The doctor's voice had started fading out when Dipper heard he was the only survivor of the accident. His gaze became distant as he tried processing those words. But there was no amount of sanity in him at the moment for him to understand what was told. The doctor stopped after a moment and he and the nurse left the room, leaving Dipper in there with his Grandmother and Grandfather.

He didn't respond to anything after.

* * *

Dipper was kept in the hospital for a few weeks to rest and heal up, though he didn't speak to anyone after he finally processed his parents and twin sister were dead. Shermie and Louise stayed with him the entire time, Grunkle Stan and Ford being contacted and coming back from their trip as quickly as they could to see him. After the accident, they weren't about to go on any trips for a long while. All of them wanted to be there for Dipper but Dipper didn't even want to be there for himself.

When it came time for him to leave the hospital, he was given a choice where to stay while he took a break from school to gather himself.

He decided to stay with Stan and Ford in Gravity Falls.


	16. Take My Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year after the accident that Stanford and Ley knew nothing about, things take a turn for the worst for them. AKA, color guard weapons need to be more useful than they are and bandannas with teeth suck for people on the biting end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH.
> 
> Have fun.

It had been Stanford's decision for Ley to drop him off at the practice venue and go back home until he needed a ride, one he was coming to regret. Though the gym the guard had moved their equipment into, after being kicked out of their old one in favor of someone who would pay more, was just fifteen minutes away from the apartment, he should have just asked Ley to stay so they could have gone home together. The only reason he kept him from doing so was because some of the members would be distracted with him there, especially during the small breaks they would take. It was always nice to practice with an audience, but when the audience wolf whistled while they bent down to stretch, no one was paying attention to what mattered. Stanford could talk his brother to the moon and back about it but Ley would never change.

He didn't want him to anyway.

But sitting on the curb in the dark after the gym had been locked wasn't something he was coming to enjoy. The rest of the members had filed out quickly and left him there, a couple offering him rides he stupidly turned down in favor of being picked up. He was tired after the long practice and knew he would have been in the shower with Ley by now had his brother stayed. Entertaining those thoughts would have helped make the time go by faster if the wind didn't carry a chill. One thing after another seemed to irk him as Stanford looked at his watch. Ten minutes since he called his brother. He shouldn't have to wait too long.

Closing his eyes, Stanford tucked his hands under his arms to keep his fingers warm and listened to the hum from the light that shone down on him from one of the posts. If he spun, he would be able to keep himself warm, but after three hours of doing so, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to for the rest of the night. A minute dragged on slowly before he decided to move about, standing up and setting his bag against the post as he got out his saber. He was about to step onto the grass to spin when he saw movement near one of the street lamps in the parking lot. His eyes narrowed as he saw a silhouette moving behind one of the lights, trying to make out who it was. He didn't have to focus that hard when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Hey, sixer!" His brows furrowed as he was called that name. It had been years since Ley had last called him that, but the man was sometimes prone to surprising him.

"Stanley? Is that you?" Stanford's eyes squinted a bit more as if that would make the silhouetted figure any clearer. The chuckle cut clear through the empty parking lot as the man stepped into the stream of light, Stanford's back tensing immediately as he looked at the man not sixty feet away from him. As poor as his eyes could be with the glasses, he knew the man standing in front of him wasn't his brother. His hair was short, graying at the temples and his outfit differed greatly from what Ley wore. The leather jacket barely hid all the weapons the man was carrying on his body and the machete he had strapped behind him stuck out like a sore thumb. The eyepatch he wore had a symbol Stanford knew all too well and his grip tightened on the hilt of his saber. "You're not Stanley."

"Yes... and no. I'm not your Stanley." The man stepped closer in the light and Stanford took a step back. The other Stan chuckled once more and advanced a few more steps. "I've heard through the dimensions about a Ford that traveled recreationally instead of being stuck or whatever version of that. You consider doing that a vacation, don't you? Thought I'd stop in and see what you were like, but I would've never expected you to shit like this. What, you spin those fake weapons?" Stan kept walking forward and Stanford planted his feet in the ground, his grip tightening on the hilt until his knuckles turned white. He could see that one eye looking to his hold before back to him and the laugh that echoed in the parking lot was almost spine chilling. "This is cute. You think you can take me on with a fake sword?"

"Unless you plan on leaving after we've talked, it's either that or I run... but anyone who comes out at night like this isn't up for just talking." Stan laughed once more and Stanford did shudder at the sound this time.

"Even if you ran, I'd find you. I always do." Stan flipped up his eyepatch to reveal a pale, glowing yellow eye with a slitted pupil. It took a moment for Stanford to realize what it meant, having never run across the being himself. Before he could say anything about Bill Cipher, those same eyes popped up along the pavement and the street lamp he was near, all of them staring at him and making him tense. He went to step on the closest one near him but the eyes closed and were gone just like that. Stanford looked up only for Stan to be a couple feet in front of him. Stepping back, Stanford held out his saber and sneered at the man.

"You're being possessed by Cipher, aren't you?"

"The boss has been long gone for a while now. Turns out universes syncing up in the same manner was enough for him to be taken down. But I still had some of his residual energy left in me. Didn't take me long to absorb it. And look where I am." Stan made a small jump towards Stanford and laughed as the man jumped back, the saber still held out in front of him as if that would stop him.

"What do you want from me?" Stanford wanted to know the specifics instead of being toyed around like this. He wanted this Stan gone before Ley came so no one else would get hurt. His gaze dropped as Stan dug for something in his jacket pocket, taking out a bandanna and brushing it off.

"I'm here to be your judge, your jury..." He paused as he wrapped the bandanna around his mouth, sharp lifelike teeth being revealed on the front and moving when he spoke. "and your executioner if you're bad." Stanford grit his teeth and decided it was move or run. Since running seemed like it would end him up in the same position he was in, he moved, lunging forward and bringing the saber back to swing it as hard as he could at the man. Stan was hit with the blade but moved with it to soften the blow, one of his hands reaching up to grab it. Stanford brought a fist back and threw a punch to at least disorient him. But when those bandanna teeth sank into his fist and the blow never came, he screamed in pain and almost dropped to his knees. He didn't have to see the smile behind the bandanna to know it was happening.

The punch was returned to him and he went down.

* * *

Ley was five minutes later than he meant to be when he arrived at the venue, pulling into an empty spot under a street lamp and looking around for his brother. "Stanford!" The car door was closed and he walked towards the gym, peering through the doors and finding the interior completely black. Even if Stanford was practicing late inside, he would have at least some of the lights on, if not all of them. So no one was in there. "Hey, Ford!" Ley called out once more and ran his fingers through his hair - or, what was left of it. His trainer had finally gotten to him to get it cut from the man bun he usually tied it back in. Who knew the best persuasion was almost getting it yanked out while he was practicing in the cage. He couldn't stop running his hand over his head to feel how short it was, even as he looked around the parking lot.

After two times of calling out to his brother, Ley was starting to get worried about where the man was. He glanced at one of the posts that had a bag underneath it and knew his brother shouldn't be too far away. Slipping his thumb and forefinger into his mouth, he let out a shrill wolf whistle to see if that would catch his brother's attention. He grinned slightly as it was returned to him from the side of the gym, grabbing the bag and walking in that direction.

"What the hell are you doing back here?" Ley called out as he rounded the corner, looking down the side to the figures that stood under the light. The grin that was on his lips dropped as he saw his brother knelt before someone, his face visibly bruised and bloody even from that distance. The bag was dropped and he rushed forward as the man who stood before Stanford punched him square in the face. Ley threw a punch to the side of the man's face and he stumbled back some, the bandanna falling from his mouth and dropping to the ground. The man turned to Ley and his entire body tensed as he saw a double of his face, save the graying hair and the eyepatch.

"Good shot." Stan wiped some of the blood from his lips and stood up straight, rolling his neck and cracking it. "My turn." Ley dodged the first swipe but missed the second as he was suckerpunched in the stomach, all of the wind rushing out of him and making him double over. "And here I thought you'd drop like a sack of potatoes." Ley recovered as quickly as he could and threw another punch, Stan this time dodging it himself and grabbing the arm to fling Ley against the wall. "Stay there while I finish this off." Stan turned back towards Stanford as he still knelt there, fisting his hand in the man's hair so he could look up at him. "All I wanted to know was how you came across making that portal gun without Cipher helping you. You might've been let off easy if you just told me." He grabbed Stanford's jaw and snapped it back into place after having dislocated it before. "Now, talk."

Stanford groaned in pain and moved his jaw to see how much he'd be able to talk, only to spit some blood in Stan's face. Stan glared and wiped the blood off of him, raising a fist to punch him before Ley jumped him from behind and wrapped an arm around his neck in a sleeper hold. His head was pulled back and his airway was constricted for a moment, letting go of Stanford's head to grab a couple knives he had on his person and sink them into Ley's arms. The man cried out and dropped, pulling them from his arms and going after Stan with one of them. He got a slice in along the man's arm only to be punched in the face hard enough to break his nose and disorient him. Ley stumbled back against the brick wall and could only watch as Stan pulled out an alien looking gun and pointed it at Stanford.

"I'd say this isn't personal, but you asked for it." That was all he said before he fired it off, the beam hitting Ford in the forehead and passing through his head before he dropped to the ground. Ley cried out for his brother and caught Stan's attention, the man turning his head towards him before bending down to pick up his bandanna. Stan walked towards Ley and grabbed him by the face so they could look at each other. "You've got spunk. You're better off without a Ford, anyway. He'll just end up ditching you. They always do." Putting the bandanna back over his mouth, Stan grabbed Ley's left arm and brought it up, sinking the sharp teeth into it and making Ley cry out in agony. He let go after a moment and took the bandanna off to shake off the blood. "You ever get smart and realize I'm right about Fords being nothing but trouble, come find me. I may go easy on you." Stan let go of Ley's arm and pulled away, walking off and around the building. Ley would have gone after him had he not had some insane thought that Stanford would be alright. He stumbled over to his brother and dropped to his knees, cupping his face with his right hand and turning it towards him.

"No no no no..." The hole in Stanford's skull was too obvious now and the lifeless look in his eyes was haunting. Tears brimmed and spilled over and he grabbed his brother's face, as if anything he could do at the moment would bring him back. A sob wracked him and he looked away from his brother's body, falling back onto his ass instead of on his knees. It took him an hour of losing his mind and piecing it back together some before he took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?"

* * *

"C'mon Ley, get up." A gloved hand lightly smacked the side of his face as he lay there on the floor of the cage, having been thrown almost halfway across it by the man he was sparring with. It had been a couple months since Stanford's funeral and Ley felt like nothing more than a walking embodiment of nothingness. Everything seemed duller and the only thing that got him off of the couch he was sleeping on and out of the apartment was the gym. He kept training to feel the pain from exerting himself but he didn't take anymore fights. Physical pain was the only thing he wanted to feel. All of the grief, the hurt, the rage that he had inside of him had to be bottled up and shoved into the deepest recesses of his mind. If he didn’t put all of that away, there was no telling how he would break. Ley felt his mind would either shatter into pieces if he focused on the grief too much or he wouldn’t be able to contain the unbridled fury he held towards the version of him that ruined him. One more smack to the face brought him back to reality and Ley turned his head to look at the small red-haired man that was smacking him. "Man, you're supposed to be a couple weight classes above me. Don't make me throwing you that easy."

"Sorry..." Ley got up off the ground and onto his feet, rolling his shoulders out and taking his stance. The man came at him again and he was able to block most of it, being kicked in the side and reacting only by throwing a half-assed punch back. The man stopped and let out a sigh, dropping his stance and taking off his gloves with his teeth.

"This isn't fun. You've been walking around like the living dead for a while, but it's time to move on. You need to have some focus in your life or it's not worth living." Ley nodded his head and started to remove his gloves, only for the other to stop him and smack the top of them. "You're not taking those off until you've thrown a real punch. Come on. Hit me as hard as you can."

"I'm not going to." Ley started taking his gloves off again and they were smacked again, only for his shoulders to be shoved afterwards to push him back against the cage. "Cut it out." The man didn't seem to listen as he shoved him again.

"Come on. What're you waiting for? An engraved invitation from my face? Hit me. Fucking hit me." One shove was followed by another and Ley was starting to get irritated.

"I said cut it out." His voice was more stern this time, trying to hold the rage back as it started to pulse within him. But the man kept at it.

"Hit me, fucking hit me, Ley. Fucking do it."

One last shove was all it took before Ley snapped, throwing all of his weight and strength behind that one punch. The man was sent flying back in the cage and stumbled before falling on his ass, Ley's eyes widening as the anger washed out of him. He stepped up to the man and knelt down. "Shit - I'm sorry."

"Whoa! That was a rush..." The man laughed a little even as blood started pouring from his nose, Ley taking off his gloves to help him out and sit him on the bench. One of the trainers came and gave the other a towel to keep the blood from getting everywhere, the two of them sitting together as the man calmed himself down. "That was a punch. Start off with that next time." Ley huffed a laugh at that before sighing, turning his head down and staring at the floor. Silence hung between them before the man was nudging his shoulder and getting his attention. "I know what you're going through. My father was the only person I've ever been really close to in the world and when he died, I thought life would never be the same. I could barely get out of bed for a couple of weeks and everything seemed too hard to care about." Ley turned his head to look at him and nodded once.

"What did you do?"

"I moved. I needed a change of scenery or else I was going to drive myself mad." The man smiled slightly from underneath the towel before taking it away to see how bad his nose was bleeding. "Fuck, you got me good... anyway, maybe that's what you need. Get away for a while. Go somewhere else and see how your life moves on for you. If it doesn't work, at least you tried."

"Yeah... worth a shot, I suppose."

* * *

Standing in his apartment that night, Ley hung up the phone and looked to the duffel bag he had packed with the essentials. He had just got off the phone with his mother and talked to both her and Shermie. Ley needed to tell that he was going to be gone for a while, that he might not come back. As much as he didn't have the energy to, he knew he had to try and move on with his life if things were ever going to change. She sounded worried but she understood, especially as he gave over ownership of the apartment to her. He said goodbye to them both, hoping it wouldn't be his last.

His fingers toyed with the strap of the duffel bag before he slung it over his shoulder, taking out the portal gun and punching in the coordinates. The blue and white portal opened before him and he stepped through, finding himself standing in front of the mansion he had known what seemed like a lifetime ago. Slowly he climbed the stairs and made his way to the door, standing there for a couple of minutes as he hesitated to knock. He needed a change of scenery but he needed to be somewhere with people he knew he could trust. Gathering himself up, Ley finally knocked at the door and waited. He tensed slightly as he heard footsteps approaching on the other side, looking up to the man that opened the door and relaxing at the sight.

"Dipper..."


	17. Broken Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ley shows up at the mansion a little over a year after the accident Dipper was in. They talk about their grieving and issues before coming to a decision that will get their lives going, again. If it's in the right direction, no one knows.

_"Dipper..."_

Ley wasn't sure if he was relieved over being greeted by him. After he had gone back to his home dimension three years prior, all contact between the Pines of this dimension had been cut off. It was a way for Ley and Stanford to move on in their lives and strengthen themselves, but standing there now, Ley felt it had been too long for him to have any right to come there. He suddenly felt misplaced and all he needed to do was grab the portal gun and leave if he was unwanted company. But getting a good look at Dipper, he could see the kid had gone through his own hell. Still they forced a smile at each other before Dipper stepped aside.

"Hi, Ley..." He walked in when he was invited and watched as Dipper closed the door, walking in further with him as he went to the living room. It had been three years but Dipper seemed to have aged more than he would have expected. The boy he knew was a man and he wondered what it would have been like had he seen him turn into what he was. Ley set his bag to the side as Dipper sat down on the couch, the other's head nodding towards the seat next to him. He sat down next to the man and leaned his arms on his legs, toying with his fingers and thinking about where he should start. If there was anything to say.

"Where's everybody?" That was certainly one place to go to. He listened to Dipper as he took a deep breath in and sighed, the man lying against the armrest of the couch and closing his eyes. The bags that were underneath them were some of the worst Ley had seen, but he wasn't about to ask him about that.

"Fiddleford and uncle Ford are out at some college holding a late lecture about one of their patents. They should be home soon and Stan went with them, so it's just me..." Ley's brows furrowed as Mabel wasn't mentioned, but before he could ask, Dipper continued. "Where's Stanford...?" His chest pinched and he looked away from Dipper, leaning back off of his legs and resting against the couch.

"He's... gone." Dipper looked at Ley and sat up some on the couch. Clarification wasn't needed to know what 'gone' meant in this context and it seemed painful enough for Ley to think about anyway. His gaze drifted off to the side and he toyed with the bottom of his shirt.

"Mabel too..." Ley picked his gaze up so he could look at Dipper, his lips pressing together before he spoke in a cracked voice.

"I'm sorry."

"Same..." There wasn't much else to say as consolation. And because it was their twin that they lost, no matter the relationship, they knew the pain the other was going through. Ley pulled himself onto the couch more and turned so he could rest back against the armrest, his legs tucked up against his chest as he faced Dipper. There were so many questions they could ask each other but refrained from doing so, unaware of how fresh the wound must have been for either. They sat there for a few minutes staring at nothing, letting the silence envelop them until Ley decided to speak up.

"You can't look in the mirror for long either, right?" Dipper looked at Ley even as the man kept his gaze fixed on something on the ground, focused on a spot that wasn't really there. "Even if towards the end, you didn't look like each other... there was a point in time where you were identical. People could barely tell you apart. You could barely tell yourself apart. It changed as you got older, but now that they're gone, you look in the mirror and all you see is them. Because there will always be similarities even if you're not identical anymore..." Stanford and Ley looked like each other for the most part so that added to the trouble that Ley was dealing with. And from the last time he saw Dipper and Mabel, the two of them had been fairly close to each other, no matter how much their styles differed. If they tried even the slightest bit, they could have passed off as one another.

Ley looked up as Dipper nodded his head to the sentiment, running a hand along his face. "Going anywhere she once was has been hard, too... I go anywhere and I'm reminded of her. I tried going back to school for a while, but I just couldn't do it... I'd rather withdraw than fail all of my classes because my mind is a million miles away."

"I stopped taking fights for the same reason.. I wouldn't be able to hold myself together if I hopped into the cage. Nothing good would come from it..." Dipper and Ley stretched their legs out some on the couch and their feet brushed up against each other, the gentle touch adding a bit of comfort and forcing whatever pain and anger that reared its head down. Some still lingered and gripped at their chests, but they'd know they'd stop when they'd get to the point where they couldn't talk about any more. "I've been sleeping on the couch, too... I couldn't go near the bedroom but I couldn't get rid of the apartment." But now he didn't have to worry about that. One less thing to think about. One less reminder of the man, his brother, he would never get back.

"I haven't been to Mabel's room either... I went in once after the funeral and I just lost it... Haven't been in there since." Their feet brushed against each other again and they sighed simultaneously.

"When did it happen?" It was one of the questions Ley had kept himself from asking at first, but he wanted to know anyway. Curiosity won out over courtesy.

"Over a year ago..." That was long than Ley was dealing with, but he would have ended up in the same boat if he wasn't given that push to move on with his life. Without having to ask how, Dipper decided to answer the question that hung in the air. "We were going to pick Grandpa Shermie and Grandma Louise up at the airport... a truck ran a red light while we were in the intersection. Mabel... mom and dad..." Dipper's voice cracked a little and he rubbed at his face with one of his hands. "I was the only survivor." Ley looked at him and his jaw dropped open slightly, closing after a moment and wondering what he should say in response to it. 'I'm sorry' was something people said when they weren't sure what else there was. Ley had heard it enough over the past few months and he was sick of hearing it anymore. Things were quiet for a breath before Dipper asked. "What about you..?"

"Few months... It's complicated." Dipper nudged Ley's foot lightly with his own and their gazes met, only to break when Ley brushed a hand over his hair and rubbed at the back of his neck. "He was killed... by another version of me. This... insane version. I tried to stop him..." Ley held up his left arm and pulled the sleeve up, revealing the jagged bitemark along his forearm before resting it back down. "But I wasn't fast enough. I didn't even watch him die... he was shot, so when I got to him, he was already gone." Tears began to slip down Ley's cheeks before he knew what was happening, wiping them away with the sleeve of his shirt. Whether they were of hurt or of fury, he couldn't tell. He'd gotten used to numbing himself over the months. Dipper nudged his foot again and Ley looked up to him just as Dipper was moving some of the hair away from his forehead. Where Ley knew the big dipper birthmark to be was now covered in scar tissue. There were no remains of what had been there, only the scar in its place.

"Some shrapnel did that to me in the crash... I bandaged my head for a week after it healed because I didn't want to look at it." Dipper still felt the urge to bandage it now, but he shoved that down as far as it could go. "Why'd you decide to come here after so long?"

Ley shrugged his shoulders and rested his side against the couch. "One of the guys I train with told me I should get a change of scenery... all I could think of was coming here to people I know and trust."

"Was a change of scenery what you wanted?" Ley sighed and shook his head.

"I don't know... I can barely think of what I want on a daily basis. On a good day, I manage to clear my mind of everything and I just walk around like a zombie. But on my bad days... I just think about that moment. What happened to Ford and that version of me that ruined it all. I think of how I could have stopped him and made him pay for everything he did to Ford before he shot him." Ley closed his eyes and tried to push those thoughts away so he could dive back into the emptiness. The emptiness was a safe place for him even if it meant that he wasn't enjoying his life anymore. The emptiness was where all emotions ceased to be. Things were quiet for a minute.

"Have you thought of doing anything?" Ley opened his eyes and looked to Dipper as he spoke, brows furrowing before he nodded his head.

"I have... quite often. Even if I did something, I wouldn't know where to find him."

"You could look. You've got a portal gun, right?"

"I wouldn't know where to start. If I jump into any dimension and start asking around for someone who looks like me and has my name, they'll think I'm crazy." Dipper sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck,

"Was there anything that stood out about him...?"  Ley's brows furrowed and he almost winced at replaying part of the night through his head, his gaze turning up to the ceiling and staring at a blank spot before he spoke.

"He had an eyepatch over his left eye.. and a jacket with a fish on the back." Dipper nodded to the description, and though they had no way of identifying the man to find out who he was, then it was something. Ley laughed bitterly to himself and his fingers ran over his arm where the scar was. "Whenever I was able to drag myself out of the apartment and go to the gym, I always found myself thinking about him when I was at the punching bag. I'd hit it until my fists were bruised under the bandages and gloves. All of the pain and anger, I took it out there and I'd think to myself how it would feel if it was the real thing... And you're making me want to turn that into a reality." As Ley spoke, he could feel the anger cracking at the container he forced it into. Pieces chipped away and a pure rage burned in the pit of his stomach as he thought about what that Stan had said. He spoke as if he had dealt with more than one Ford. The desire to feel his features crunch and shatter underneath his fist grew, even if it would bring him nothing, not even closure.

"Why don't you?" The two of them looked at each other for a moment and held a discussion through their gazes. It was silent but definitive when a ghost of a smirk tugged at Ley's lips.

"It'll get me off my ass." All he needed was a little push.

* * *

"Dipper!" The door slammed shut as Ford, Stan, and Fiddleford walked into the foyer, Stan going towards the living room where the man had been before they left. The room was empty and the three of them started calling him through the mansion. Ford headed up the stairs towards his room, his pacing slowed as he saw the door to Dipper's room was open and heard movement inside. He walked around the corner to see Dipper pulling some clothes from his drawer and stuffing them into a bag, Ley standing off to the side and watching as he leaned against a dressed.

"What are you doing?" Both Ley and Dipper looked up and to Ford as he called out, glancing at each other after a moment before Dipper turned his attention right back.

"I'm leaving."


End file.
